Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-24-2009
Abstract
The spatial and temperature dependence of the surface-induced orientational order parameter S(z,T) was determined in the isotropic phase. An optical fiber was immersed in a thin liquid crystal layer and the retardation was measured as a function of the fiber's height above the surface, from which the model-independent S(z,T) was deduced with resolution 2nm. It was found that (i) S(z=0) 0.12 close to the nematic transition temperature, (ii) the susceptibility is mean-field-like, and (iii) S(z,T) deviates significantly from exponential spatial decay. The results are discussed in terms of a nonlocal potential.
Keywords
direct measurement, isotropic phase, mean-field, nematic isotropic phase transition, nematic transitions, nonlocal potentials, orientational order parameters, spatial decay, temperature dependence, thin liquids, light sources, liquid crystals, optical fibers, superconducting transition temperature, phase transitions
Publication Title
Physical Review Letters
Rights
© 2009 The American Physical Society.
Recommended Citation
Direct Measurement of Surface-Induced Orientational Order Parameter Profile Above the Nematic-Isotropic Phase Transition Temperature. Lee J.-H., Atherton T.J., Barna V., De Luca A., Bruno E., Petschek R.G., Rosenblatt C., Physical Review Letters 102:16, 2009.