Measurement of anchoring coefficient of homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal using a polarizing optical microscope in reflective mode

Although the homeotropic alignment of liquid crystals is widely used in LCD TVs, no easy method exists to measure its anchoring coefficient. In this study, we propose an easy and convenient measurement technique in which a polarizing optical microscope is used in the reflective mode with an objective lens having a low depth of focus. All measurements focus on the reflection of light near the interface between the liquid crystal and alignment layer. The change in the reflected light is measured by applying an electric field. We model the response of the director of the liquid crystal to the electric field and, thus, the change in reflectance. By adjusting the extrapolation length in the calculation, we match the experimental and calculated results and obtain the anchoring coefficient. In our experiment, the extrapolation lengths were 0.31 ± 0.04 μm, 0.32 ± 0.08 μm, and 0.23 ± 0.05 μm for lecithin, AL-64168, and SE-5662, respectively.