Ion-Beam Induced Liquid Crystal Alignment on Diamond-like Carbon and Fluorinated Diamond-like Carbon Thin Films

Abstract

Homogeneous and homeotropic orientations of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) are investigated on various inorganic thin films which are exposed to Ar ion-beam. It is the novel investigations which results in a completely dry processing technique for both the thin film deposition and alignment steps. In the case of homogenous alignment on diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer, optical band gap and the polar surface energy are investigated in order to elucidate the alignment mechanism by ion beam (IB) irradiation. We elucidate the role of surface polarity in DLC films with respect to the LC orientation. On the other hand, FDLC thin films are selected by homeotropic alignment layer with regard to the relationship between surface tension and LC orientation. Selected pretilt angles in the range of 71.1–89.8° can be easily obtained with ion beam irradiation. It is sensitively changed by thin films composition and the angle of ion beam irradiation.