On the control of the nematic orientation on the silicon surface processed by a focused gallium ion beam

Preliminary results of studying the orientation of a 5CB nematic on the single-crystalline silicon surface processed by a 30-keV focused Ga ion beam ar e reported. It is shown that the nematic can be controllably imparted on a homeotropic or inclined orientation depending on the surface irradiation dose. By varying the scanning raster of the ion beam, one can obtain different surface patterns with a micrometer resolution and a desired orientation of the nematic.