Effects of long range van der Waals forces on the anchoring of a nematic fluid at an interface

We consider theoretically the interface between a nematic fluid and a uniaxial solid: The long range part of the van der Waals interaction between the two gives rise to torques in the fluid, and favors an alignment of the nematic molecules parallel to the optical axis of the solid. The torques decre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of colloid and interface science 1976, Vol.57 (3), p.403-410
Main Authors: Dubois-Violette, E, De Gennes, P.G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Physics
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Summary:We consider theoretically the interface between a nematic fluid and a uniaxial solid: The long range part of the van der Waals interaction between the two gives rise to torques in the fluid, and favors an alignment of the nematic molecules parallel to the optical axis of the solid. The torques decrease like Z −3 in the nonretarded limit, and have a more complicated decay when retardation is important. We make a complete calculation of the distortions in the nematic near the interface for both cases and find that retardation effects must be included to get convergent results when the solid and the nematic are very close. Our calculations may be of some use to discuss the anchoring of the nematic near the interface, if the solid is masked by a thin (100 Å) layer of amorphous material, or if there is an air gap (∼1000 Å).
ISSN:0021-9797
1095-7103
DOI:10.1016/0021-9797(76)90219-8