Abstract
This work explores the surface treatment of copolymer materials with fluorinated carbonyl groups in various mole fractions by ultraviolet irradiation and ion-beam (IB) bombardment and its effect on liquid crystal (LC) surface alignments. X-ray photoemission spectroscopic analysis confirms that the content of the grafted CF 2 side chains dominates the pretilt angle. A significant increase in oxygen content is responsible for the increase in the polar surface energy during IB treatment. Finally, the polar component of the surface energy dominates the pretilt angle of the LCs. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.