title: Phase behavior of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with a chemically and geometrically structured substrate.
abstract: A nematic liquid crystal in contact with a grating surface possessing an alternating stripe pattern of locally homeotropic and planar anchoring is studied within the Frank-Oseen model. The combination of both chemical and geometrical surface pattern leads to rich phase diagrams, involving a homeotropic, a planar, and a tilted nematic texture. The effect of the groove depth and the anchoring strengths on the location and the order of phase transitions between different nematic textures is studied. A zenithally bistable nematic device is investigated by confining a nematic liquid crystal between the patterned grating surface and a flat substrate with strong homeotropic anchoring.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harnau
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondrat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poniewierski