Thickness dependence of the anchoring energy of a nematic cell

The cell gap thickness dependence of the anchoring energy strength of a nematic cell is investigated. The relaxation time of the elastic deformation of a nematic liquid crystal layer imposed by an external electric field is analyzed as a function of the thickness of the nematic layer. The measurements have been performed with conventional sandwich cells with cell gap ranging from 1 μm to 10 μm. According to our data, the anchoring energy strength is not only a characteristic of the interface substrate-nematic liquid crystal but it also depends strongly on the cell thickness.