SPONTANEOUS DISTORTION OF A NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL CLOSE TO AN INTERFACE

Citation
P. Galatola et al., SPONTANEOUS DISTORTION OF A NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL CLOSE TO AN INTERFACE, Physics letters. A, 210(1-2), 1996, pp. 101-104
Citations number
20
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
ISSN journal
03759601
Volume
210
Issue
1-2
Year of publication
1996
Pages
101 - 104
Database
ISI
SICI code
0375-9601(1996)210:1-2<101:SDOANL>2.0.ZU;2-8
Abstract
We theoretically analyze the orientation of a nematic liquid crystal c lose to an interface, by means of a semi-microscopic model, We find th at long-range van der Waals interactions, depending on the orientation of the molecules with respect to their relative position, give rise t o subsurface deformations on a molecular scale. This result is compare d with the predictions of recently proposed elastic theories.