Anchoring transitions in thin liquid crystal films as seen from a mean-force potentials approach.

Abstract

Statistical mechanical theory based on the concept of mean-force potentials is used to describe anchoring transitions in a liquid-crystal system near a solid surface. This approach took into account not only the two-particle correlations between the nearest and next-nearest neighbors, but also the surface-attractive interactions. Calculations were performed for a cubic close packing with the Gay-Berne intermolecular potential interaction and with a (9-3)-like orientation-dependent molecule-wall interaction. Our calculations have shown that the number of surface layers to be taken into account depends more on the nature of interparticle correlations in the system than on the direct interaction of the wall with the nematic. It has been shown that there are several scenarios for anchoring transitions in such systems in a certain range of temperatures and volumes.