Smectic C and Nematic Phases in Strongly Adsorbed Layers of Semiflexible Polymers

Molecular dynamics simulations of semiflexible polymers in a good solvent reveal a dense adsorbed layer when the solution is exposed to an attractive planar wall. This layer exhibits both a nematic and a smectic phase (smA for short and smC for longer chains) with bond vectors aligned strictly parallel to the wall. The tilt angle of the smC phase increases strongly with the contour length of the polymers. The isotropic-nematic transition is a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and also the nematic-smectic transition is continuous. Our finding demonstrates thus a two-dimensional realization of different liquid crystalline phases, ubiquitous in three dimensions, that occurs in a single monomolecular layer ordered at least over mesoscopic scales.