Substrate-induced crystal plastic phase of a discotic liquid crystal.

Gbabode, Gabin; Dumont, Nicolas; Quist, Florence; Schweicher, Guillaume; Moser, Armin; Viville, Pascal; Lazzaroni, Roberto; Geerts, Yves H · Adv Mater · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A new phase of a known discotic liquid crystal is observed at the interface with a rigid substrate. The structure of the substrate-induced phase has been characterized by atomic force microscopy, specular X-ray diffraction, and small-angle and wide-angle grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The substrate-induced phase, which has a thickness of ∼30 nm and a tetragonal symmetry, differs notably from the bulk phase. The occurrence of such phase casts a new light on alignment of discotic liquid crystals.

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