Anchoring and electro-optic switching of liquid crystals on nano-structured surfaces fabricated by two-photon based nano-printing

Affiliation
Faculty of Science, Paderborn University, Warburger Str. 100, 33098 Paderborn
Zhang, Bingru;
GND
1214663672
ORCID
0000-0003-3115-3475
Affiliation
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena
Plidschun, Malte;
GND
1195327765
ORCID
0000-0002-5324-6405
Affiliation
Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena
Schmidt, Markus A.;
Affiliation
Faculty of Science, Paderborn University, Warburger Str. 100, 33098 Paderborn
Kitzerow, Heinz-S.

The alignment of liquid crystals on surfaces plays a central role in optimizing their performances. In this work, a cutting-edge nano-lithography-based method to control the local orientation of a thermotropic liquid crystal is applied to easily available commercial standard materials and evaluated. Parallel nanogrooves on a substrate, created through 3D nanoprinting in a negative-tone photoresin optimized for two-photon polymerization are used for this purpose. Azimuthal anchoring energies of the order from 10−6 J/m2 to 10−5 J/m2 are found, depending on the spacing, width and depth of the grooves. In part, these values are larger than those reported previously for another photopolymer. Both uniform alignment and spatial patterns of different alignment directions can be realized. Electro-optic studies confirm the suitability of the method for electrically addressable photonic applications and indicate strong polar anchoring.

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