Computer simulations of adsorbed liquid crystal films

The structures adopted by adsorbed thin films of Gay-Berne particles in the presence of a coexisting vapour phase are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. The films are adsorbed at a flat substrate which favours planar anchoring, whereas the nematic-vapour interface favours normal alignment. On cooling, a system with a high molecule-substrate interaction strength exhibits substrate-induced planar orientational ordering and considerable stratification is observed in the density profiles. In contrast, a system with weak molecule substrate coupling adopts a director orientation orthogonal to the substrate plane, owing to the increased influence of the nematic-vapour interface. There are significant differences between the structures adopted at the two interfaces, in contrast with the predictions of density functional treatments of such systems.