Multistable alignment states in nematic liquid crystal filled wells

Two distinct, stable alignment states have been observed for a nematic liquid crystal confined in a layer with thickness of 12 mu m and in square wells with sides of length between 20 and 80 mu m. The director lies in the plane of the layer and line defects occur in two corners of the squares. The positions of the defects determine whether the director orientation is across the diagonal or is parallel to two opposite edges of the square. The device is multistable because both the diagonal and parallel states are stable when rotated by multiples of 90 degrees in plane. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.