TY  - JOUR
Y1  - 2014/05/01/
ID  - discovery1431735
UR  - http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.052501
N2  - Induced bulk orientation of nematic liquid crystal in contact with micron-scale patterned surfaces is investigated using the Landau-de Gennes theory by means of three-dimensional simulations. The effect of the size and spacing of square cross-sectional well and post patterns is investigated and shown to influence the orientation of the liquid crystal bulk, far removed from the surface. Additionally, the effective anchoring strength of the induced alignment is estimated using a modified version of the torque balance method. Both azimuthal and zenithal multistability are shown to exist within unique ranges of feature sizes.
VL  - 89
JF  - Physical Review E
A1  - Willman, E
A1  - Seddon, L
A1  - Osman, M
A1  - Bulak, A
A1  - James, R
A1  - Day, SE
A1  - Fernandez, FA
PB  - AMER PHYSICAL SOC
AV  - public
TI  - Liquid crystal alignment induced by micron-scale patterned surfaces
SN  - 2470-0053
EP  - 7
IS  - 5
N1  - ©2014 American Physical Society. This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions.
KW  - Science & Technology
KW  -  Physical Sciences
KW  -  Physics
KW  -  Fluids & Plasmas
KW  -  Physics
KW  -  Mathematical
KW  -  Physics
KW  -  PHYSICS
KW  -  FLUIDS & PLASMAS
KW  -  PHYSICS
KW  -  MATHEMATICAL
KW  -  PLANAR
KW  -  FIELD
KW  -  CELL
ER  -