Determination of Polar Anchoring Strength at Vertical Alignment Nematic Liquid Crystal-Wall Interface Using Thin Hybrid Alignment Nematic Cell

A method of determining the polar anchoring strength W d of a vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal-wall interface is proposed. W d is evaluated from the measurements of the optical retardation of a thin hybrid alignment nematic cell as a function of the wavelength of the incident light and cell rotating angles. As an example, the anchoring strength W d = 2.5 ×10-4 [J/m2] is measured at the interface between the nematic mixture ZLI-2293 and the polyimide vertical alignment film PI-1.