Alignment of liquid crystals on self-assembled monolayers using ultra-thin gold films

Thin films (1-100 .ANG.) of Au were sputtered on glass substrates coated with an ITO layer, a non-rubbed polyimide planarization layer, and a Cr adhesion interlayer. Then, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of the thiols 1-dodecanethiol, 1-hexadecanethiol, and 11-mercapto-1-undecanol were deposited on these substrates. The samples were characterized by AFM, polarized optical microscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy. Furthermore, display cells were constructed, filled with the liq. crystals and characterized by measurements of their electrooptical properties. For the apolar thiols, a monolithic homeotropic alignment was obsd., while, the alkanethiols with a polar end group exhibited a monolithic planar liq.-crystal alignment. The transparency of the SAMs was enhanced. [on SciFinder (R)