Abstract
A model for the free energy of a ferroelectric liquid crystal which was formed by cooling a sample from the smectic-A phase between parallel substrates, was proposed. A sufficiently large electric field was applied to a device which contained an antiferroelectric, intermediate, or ferroelectric liquid crystal. Under these conditions the chevron structure of the crystal was transformed into a bookshelf geometry. The results show that in the model proposed, it is a parameter related to the layer compression modulus that is the principal factor in determining the nature of the field-induced transition from chevrons to flat layers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 051704 |
| Pages (from-to) | 517041-517048 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2003 |
Keywords
- Liquid crystals (ferroelec.; theory of layer structure in ferroelec. liq. crystal devices in applied elec. fields); Ferroelectric materials (liq.-crystal; theory of layer structure in ferroelec. liq. crystal devices in applied elec. fields); Electric field effects; Free energy; Liquid crystal displays (theory of layer structure in ferroelec. liq. crystal devices in applied elec. fields)