In order to apply electro-optical properties of liquid crystals (LC) to practical devices, uniform alignment of directors is an essential requirement. Recently, it has been reported that introducing a reactive mesogen (RM) can improve the anchoring en...
In order to apply electro-optical properties of liquid crystals (LC) to practical devices, uniform alignment of directors is an essential requirement. Recently, it has been reported that introducing a reactive mesogen (RM) can improve the anchoring energy for surface alignment. So far, studies on the azimuthal anchoring energy of the planar alignment mode related to rod-like RMs have been mainly reported. In this study, the effect of introducing an asymmetric bent-core RM, i.e., a hockey stick-shaped RM, on the polar anchoring energy of vertical alignment (VA) mode was investigated. The structure of the obtained RM was identified using 1H NMR, FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Their mesomorphic behavior was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized microscope (POM). The VA-mode cell was fabricated by spin-coating a mixture of RM and VA agents, injecting LC with a negative dielectric constant, and photocuring by UV-irradiation, and the electro-optical properties were evaluated.