Multistable nematic liquid crystal device using nanoscopically patterned surface alignment

The introduction of nanostructures in otherwise homogeneous liquid crystals can potentially be a powerful approach to create naturally nonexistent phases, structures and functions based on the liquid crystallinity. Owing to the microscopic molecular orientational order and the associated long range curvature elasticity, indigenous liquid crystal structures interact strongly with extrinsic objects on the nanometer scale. Here, we present the results of our recent efforts along the directed bottom-up approach as applied to artificial two-dimensional nanostructuring of liquid crystals with a view to developing novel photonic devices. We will focus here on the use of the stylus of the atomic force microscope to nanoscopically treat the surface anchoring in such a way as to implement an orientationally patterned surface. Theoretical analysis shows that the threshold voltage remains at most twice that for the bistable device, no matter how large the degree of multistability becomes.