Abstract
Surface-induced alignment of molecules by a substrate is a fascinating problem of both basic and applied interest. As an example, it is well known that the bulk alignment of a liquid crystal cell can be controlled by the surface treatment, but the mechanism is hardly understood. Rubbing of polymer or surfactant coated substrates is a technique commonly used to create bulk homogeneous alignment (average molecular orientation parallel to the surface). Both short range interaction at the molecular level and a bulk elastic interaction of a macroscopic nature have been proposed as possible alignment mechanisms. We have used optical second harmonic generation (SHG) to study the effect of interfacial interaction on the orientational distribution of a surface monolayer of molecules and learn how this interaction can induce the bulk alignment.
© 1990 Optical Society of America
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