On the Possibility of Controlling the Surface Alignment Properties of Liquid Crystal using the Amount of Frictional Work Generated During Rubbing

Abstract In order to improve the stability of the rubbing process, the authors have employed a new parameter — the amount of frictional work W — as a rubbing controlling parameter instead of rubbing strength L which has been used in the past. The applicability of this new parameter to control the surface alignment properties of liquid crystal is experimentally confirmed. The relationship between surface alignment properties, including anchoring energy (azimuthal direction) and pretilt angle, and rubbing condition parameters is investigated, and it is proven that by using the amount of frictional work, anchoring energy and pretilt angle under various rubbing conditions can be summarized uniformly. It is also shown that differences in anchoring energy as a result of using different kinds of rubbing cloth can be cancelled by using the amount of frictional work as a reference parameter.