The dependence of the orientation of liquid crystals on solid surfaces with constant surface topography on the surface tension

Abstract Our investigations showed that liquid crystal (LC) orientation on the LC/surfactant-coated substrate interface can be influenced by the polar component γ P s of the substrate surface tension γ s . The topography of the substrate surfaces used is constant and therefore has no influence on the LC orientation. As surfactant, a homologous series of fluorocarbon compounds with different head groups was used. The tilt angles, φ, of the liquid crystal molecules were determined conoscopically and the substrate topography was investigated using the surface potential method.