TY - JOUR

T1 - Electric eld driven transformations of orientational structure in chiral nematic systems with large exoelectricity

AU - Oskirko, A. D.

AU - Ul’yanov, S.V.

AU - Valkov, A.Yu.

PY - 2020/1/31

Y1 - 2020/1/31

N2 - Transformation of the orientational structure in a plane-parallel cell of a cholestericliquid crystal, was studied depending on the magnitude of the voltage applied to the boundaryplanes of the cell. The equilibrium configuration of the liquid crystal director field wasfound minimizing the free energy both analitically and numerically. We took into accountthe orientational elastic energy in the volume and at the cell boundaries, the energy of aninhomogeneous electric field, and the flexoelectric effect. Systems with large flexoelectriccoefficient were studied in detail. It was found, that when small voltages are applied to the cellboundaries, a continuous Fredericks transition occurs first, and then, when certain characteristicvoltage is achieved, a significant jump-like change in the orientational structure takes place, andthis structure gradually changes with the further voltage increase. It is shown that variousscenarios of transformation of the orientational structure can be implemented depending on theactual values of the set of material parameters of the system studied. The discovered ability tocontrol the structure of a liquid crystal in a cell can find use in various technical devices.

AB - Transformation of the orientational structure in a plane-parallel cell of a cholestericliquid crystal, was studied depending on the magnitude of the voltage applied to the boundaryplanes of the cell. The equilibrium configuration of the liquid crystal director field wasfound minimizing the free energy both analitically and numerically. We took into accountthe orientational elastic energy in the volume and at the cell boundaries, the energy of aninhomogeneous electric field, and the flexoelectric effect. Systems with large flexoelectriccoefficient were studied in detail. It was found, that when small voltages are applied to the cellboundaries, a continuous Fredericks transition occurs first, and then, when certain characteristicvoltage is achieved, a significant jump-like change in the orientational structure takes place, andthis structure gradually changes with the further voltage increase. It is shown that variousscenarios of transformation of the orientational structure can be implemented depending on theactual values of the set of material parameters of the system studied. The discovered ability tocontrol the structure of a liquid crystal in a cell can find use in various technical devices.

M3 - Conference article

VL - 1425

JO - Journal of Physics: Conference Series

JF - Journal of Physics: Conference Series

SN - 1742-6588

M1 - 012176

ER -