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Polydomain and Monodomain Structures of a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Bounded in Liquid Crystal Cells by Rough Anisotropic Boundary Surfaces

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Abstract

The roughness parameter Rz and the anisotropy of the surface free energy (ASFE) of a rubbed polymer layer (aligning layer) bounding a ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystal (FLC) in liquid crystal cells are measured. The dependences of the ASFE and Rz on the aligning layer thickness L are measured for the first time. The concept of the free energy anisotropy (FEA) of a rough surface layer is introduced for the first time. The dependence of the FEA of the rough surface layer on the aligning layer thickness is measured. It is experimentally shown that the polydomain FLC structure transformation in liquid-crystal cells into a monodomain one occurs as a threshold transition, when the FEA value of the rough aligning layer exceeds a certain critical value.

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Notes

  1. The summary table of main parameters of automated scanning probe microscope Certus Standard V (http://www.nanoscantech.ru/ru/products/SPM/SPM-150.html). [Request date: 3.02.2023]

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Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 20-02-00746 A.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Kuznetsov, A. A. Zhukovich-Gordeeva, N. A. Smirnov & E. P. Pozhidaev

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  1. A. V. Kuznetsov
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  2. A. A. Zhukovich-Gordeeva
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  3. N. A. Smirnov
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  4. E. P. Pozhidaev
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Correspondence to A. V. Kuznetsov.

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Translated by A. Kazantsev

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Kuznetsov, A.V., Zhukovich-Gordeeva, A.A., Smirnov, N.A. et al. Polydomain and Monodomain Structures of a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Bounded in Liquid Crystal Cells by Rough Anisotropic Boundary Surfaces. Bull. Lebedev Phys. Inst. 50, 159–165 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068335623050056

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