Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.352, 435-442, 2000
Non-Debye charge screening and adsorbed-ion-induced anchoring transition in a nematic liquid crystal
Anchoring transition mechanism due to substrate-adsorbed ions is studied. It is shown that the surface field is screened by a very dense charged subsurface layer whose thickness lambda (S) is much smaller than the Debye length lambda (D). It is shown both theoretically and experimentally that critical temperature of the transition can be controlled by bulk ion density through its relation to the density of adsorbed ions.