Director Configurations in the Structures of the Nematic Adsorbed on a Polymer Surface

Abstract
The orientational structures of nematic liquid crystals that form at the polymer surface due to adsorption and their stability with respect to the schlieren texture are investigated. Features of point and linear singularities in these structures are studied. The director configurations in nematic layer as a result of the combination of two aligning factors, which are the linear disclination that tends to impose uniform planar ordering and point defect that imparts the radial structure to the director are considered. The analysis of the elastic distortions energies of the director configurations for the radial-planar, radial-homeotropic and radial-radial structures, depending on the nematic layer thickness was performed using the calculation method.

Keywords: nematic liquid crystal, polymer, adsorption, disclination, director configuration