title: Continuous nematic anchoring transition due to surface-induced smectic order.
abstract: A continuous transition from tilted to homeotropic alignment at an interface is observed at a temperature T(a) for a nematic liquid crystal on cooling toward the nematic-smectic-A phase transition temperature. T(a) is found to depend on the treatment of the substrate. The behavior is examined theoretically in terms of a pair of competing easy axes (homeotropic and planar) and the tilt elasticity associated with the growth of surface-induced smectic order.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7079, USA.
authors.forename: Tatsutoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shioda
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt