Analysis of Alignment and Anchoring Energy in Discotic Liquid Crystal Films for Wide Viewing Angle of LCDs

摘要

We analyzed the alignment in discotic liquid crystal (DLC) films and the anchoring energy at the air/DLC layer boundary on basis of the elastic continuum theory. The tilt angles of DLC molecules at the air surface side in DLC layers formed on a rubbed alignment film increased with the thickness of DLC layers. Moreover, the anchoring energy at the air/DLC layer boundary was rather weak (2 X 10~(-5) J/m~2) and the values were independent of the thickness of the DLC layers.