Alignment of liquid crystals on obliquely evaporated silicon oxide films

Liquid crystal alignment on thin films obliquely deposited by electron beam evaporation of SiO2 is reported. Films deposited at a glancing angle of 5°give high tilt alignment ?45°, while increasing the deposition angle to 30°gives zero tilt alignment. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures relate surface topography to alignment. The material and temperature dependence of tilt are reported. The tilt is constant through the nematic-smectic A transition.