Diverging elasticity and director uniformation in a nanopatterned cell near the nematic-smectic-A phase transition.

The stylus of an atomic force microscope is used to scribe herringbone patterns of various wavelengths into a polyimide-coated substrate. The patterns serve as a template for alignment of the liquid crystal octyloxycyanobiphenyl and impose a bend distortion in the liquid crystal in the vicinity of the herringbone apexes. The pretransitional behavior of the liquid crystal is observed by polarized microscopy as it is cooled through the nematic-smectic- A phase transition, facilitating direct visualization of the extrapolation length, which is related to the trade-off between elastic and anchoring forces. Just above the phase transition temperature the expulsion of bend deformation is observed and is shown to be in good quantitative agreement with continuum theory. Very close to the transition temperature a weak threshold behavior is observed, wherein the smectic- A phase forms a monodomain for short period herringbones, but breaks into multiple domains when the patterned period is large.