Model for molecular director configuration in a liquid crystal cell with multiple interfaces

The study of optical solitons and light filaments steering in liquid crystal requires the utilization of particular cells designed for top view investigation and realized with an input interface which enables the control of the molecular director configuration, preventing light scattering. Actually, the director orientation imposed by this additional interface is estimated only by experimental observations. We report a simple model describing the distribution of the director orientation inside a liquid crystal sample under the anchoring action of multiple interfaces. The model is based on the elastic continuum theory, and strong anchoring is taken into account for boundary conditions. Results are in good agreement with experimental observations.