Synthesis and Surface Anchoring Property of Partially Fluorinated Hockey Stick-Shaped Reactive Mesogens

In order to apply electro-optical properties of liquid crystals (LC) to practical devices, uniform alignment of directors is an essential requirement. Recently, it has been reported that introducing a reactive mesogen (RM) can improve the anchoring energy for surface alignment. So far, studies on the azimuthal anchoring energy of the planar alignment mode related to rod-like RMs have been mainly reported. In this study, the effect of introducing an asymmetric bent-core RM, i.e., a hockey stick-shaped RM, on the polar anchoring energy of vertical alignment (VA) mode was investigated. The structure of the obtained RM was identified using H NMR, FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Their meso-morphic behavior was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized microscope (POM). The VA-mode cell was fabricated by spin-coating a mixture of RM and VA agents, injecting LC with a negative dielectric constant, and photocuring by UV-irradiation, and the electro-optical properties were evaluated.