Bt. Hallam et Jr. Sambles, Quantifying azimuthal anchoring of nematics using in-plane fields and fully-leaky guided modes, MOLEC CRYST, 351, 2000, pp. 87-94
In this work we present a new optical guided mode technique which is used t
o monitor small perturbations to the director twist profile in a convention
al liquid crystal cell. The cell is filled with nematic liquid crystal E7 w
hich is homogeneously aligned using rubbed polyimide. Twist distortions are
induced via the application of weak in-plane electric fields. Careful anal
ysis of these distortions allows both the twist elastic constant, k(22) and
the azimuthal anchoring strength, W-a, of the cell to be determined.