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.
- Received 4 November 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.050701
©2011 American Physical Society
