title: Aging in glassy polymer-liquid-crystal layers.
abstract: We present in this Rapid Communication experimental evidence of an acceleration of the zenithal easy-axis dynamics of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) with the age of a NLC-polymer layer. The comparison with other hard alignment layers strongly indicates that the polymer softness and its ability to reorient in the nematic ordering field is at the origin of the measured dynamics. The unusual acceleration of the dynamics with the polymer age is discussed in terms of this unique coupling with the NLC order. The NLC behaves like a physical plasticizer as a result of the coupling between the NLC and the polymer orders.
authors: Laboratoire des Colloïdes, Verres et Nanomatériaux, Université Montpellier II/CNRS, Montpellier, France.
authors: Krassimira
authors: K
authors: Antonova
authors: Kostyantyn
authors: K
authors: Slyusarenko
authors: Oleksandr
authors: O
authors: Buluy
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Blanc
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Joly
authors: Yuriy
authors: Y
authors: Reznikov
authors: Maurizio
authors: M
authors: Nobili