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38.1: Study of Ion Beam Alignment of Liquid Crystals on Polymer Substrates
Author(s) -
West John L.,
Su Linli,
Artyushkova Kateryna,
Farrar Jabari,
Fulghum Julia E.,
Reznikov Yuri
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
sid symposium digest of technical papers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2168-0159
pISSN - 0097-966X
DOI - 10.1889/1.1830137
Subject(s) - polymer , ion beam , materials science , polystyrene , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , polyimide , beam (structure) , ion , liquid crystal , infrared spectroscopy , reflection (computer programming) , spectroscopy , optics , optoelectronics , chemistry , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , computer science , programming language , physics , layer (electronics) , quantum mechanics , engineering
Various polymer substrates, including polyimide and polystyrene were bombarded with Ar+ ion beam in high vacuum at an oblique angle. The alignment direction of liquid crystal 5CB on these polymer substrates is always parallel to the ion beam propagation direction regardless of the type of polymer used. The alignment mechanism is studied using surface sensitive techniques such as Polarized Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy (ATR), and X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. We propose that selective destruction of the weakest bonds (π bonds) in the polymer by the Ar+ ion beam results in a net excess of the remaining π bonds that align liquid crystals parallel to the ion beam propagation direction.