Rubbing-induced charge domains observed by electrostatic force microscopy: effect on liquid crystal alignment

Abstract

The rubbing of polymer-coated substrates is one of the most frequently used techniques for liquid crystal alignment. However, the aligning mechanisms are not completely understood. The influence of friction charges induced by the rubbing process has been taken into account in theoretical publications. In this work we investigate the rubbing-induced charge domains of three polymers (PMMA, PI and PVA) with the electrostatic force microscopy technique, which allows the simultaneous determination of the surface topography and electrostatic potential. We observed a large intensity of the potential for the PMMA substrate, whereas no charge domains were observed for PVA. In addition, we followed the time evolution of the surface charge domains, and surprisingly after five days the charges were still present with a small reduction of intesity. Using polarizing optical microscopy we studied the influence of the charge domains on the LC aligning properties.