Capacitive techniques to monitor anchoring energy in liquid crystal-based sensors

摘要

Using the orientation order of the liquid crystal molecules in chemical and biological sensors has been widely investigated. In this paper, a technique using capacitive transduction to monitor the anchoring energy of liquid crystal alignment layers is presented. Sensing changes in the anchoring energy of a liquid crystal film can significantly improve sensitivity of liquid crystal based sensors. The method and theory is presented. Preliminary experimental results are provided using UV irradiation to alter the anchoring energy of known alignment structures.