Inter-particle interactions of weak homeotropic anchoring with electric field in a homogeneous nematic cell

We investigate the inter-particle interactions of weak homeotropic anchoring when electric field is applied parallel to far-field director in a homogeneous nematic cell. Two particles interact with the dipole-dipole and quadrupole-quadrupole interactions in the cell. A model of far-field solution dependent on the cell gap and the electric field with weak anchoring is considered to explain the experimental results. The effective radius R-eff(= zeta R) is introduced to adapt the anchoring strength effect using the radius (R) and a coefficient zeta. The model was experimentally proved with varying electric field and cell gap and it was reasonable for weak electric field. The coefficient zeta was measured to be zeta(D) = 0.70 - 0.74 and zeta(Q) = 0.78 - 0.85 for the dipole-dipole and quadrupole-quadrupole interactions, respectively, within the experimental range of the weak electric field. The anchoring strength was calculated as similar to 10(-6) J/m(2). [GRAPHICS] .