Dynamic light scattering in liquid crystal confined to cylindrical pores: Effect of different layer thicknesses and boundary conditions

Static and dynamic light scattering methods were applied to study the influence of boundary conditions and layer thickness of 8CB confined to cylindrical pores on phase transitions and relaxation of director orientational fluctuations. The pore surface influence on the properties of confined liquid crystal for radial orientation is stronger than it is for axial orientation. The separation between the first and the second(slow)relaxation processes observed in confined 8CB is clearer for thinner layers and the amplitude of slow process is greater for thinner layers. This suggests that the slow process is surface related director relaxation.