title: Unique molecular orientation in a smectic liquid crystalline polymer film attained by surface-initiated graft polymerization.
abstract: Liquid crystalline (LC) polymer brushes containing a mesogenic azobenzene (Az) moiety are synthesized on a quartz or silicon substrate by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The molecular orientation of the Az units and the LC properties in the grafted chains are evaluated by UV-vis spectroscopy, polarized optical microscopy, and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements. The Az side chains of the grafted chains exhibited a smectic LC phase in which the smectic layers are oriented perpendicular to the substrate with a parallel orientation of the mesogens. In contrast, a spincast film of the identical LC polymer without grafting to the surface shows layer structures parallel to the substrate. A drastic effect of tethering one end to the substrate on the LC orientation is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Design and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uekusa
authors.forename: Shusaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seki