BISTABLE NEMATIC AZIMUTHAL ALIGNMENT INDUCED BY ANCHORING COMPETITION

We present a novel method to obtain bistable azimuthal anchoring condi tions for nematic liquid crystals. The line control of the anchoring s trengths of two independent planar surface anchoring attractors, perpe ndicular to each other, induces controlled surface transitions that gi ve bistability. The independent anchoring sources are obtained by mean s of a composite surface made with a film of photopolymer on an anisot ropic SiO layer. A phenomenological model, based on anchoring competit ion between the two orienting layers, is developed to describe the sur face bistability. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.