Virtual surfaces, director domains and the Freedericksz transition in polymer stabilized nematic liquid crystals

Pavel A. Kossyrev; Jun Qi; Nikolai V. Priezjev; Robert A. Pelcovits; Gregory P. Crawford

doi:10.1063/1.1515136

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Virtual surfaces, director domains and the Freedericksz transition in polymer stabilized nematic liquid crystals

Pavel A. Kossyrev·Jun Qi·Nikolai V. Priezjev·Robert A. Pelcovits·Gregory P. Crawford

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Abstract

The critical field of the Freedericksz transition and switching dynamics are investigated for polymer stabilized nematic liquid crystals as a function of polymer concentration. A simple phenomenological model is proposed to describe the observed critical field and dynamic response time behaviors as a function of concentration. In this model the polymer fibrils form director domains, which are bounded by virtual surfaces with a finite anchoring energy. The Freedericksz transition occurs independently within each of these domains.

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Pavel A. Kossyrev, Jun Qi, Nikolai V. Priezjev, Robert A. Pelcovits, Gregory P. Crawford. 2002-05-28. Virtual surfaces, director domains and the Freedericksz transition in polymer stabilized nematic liquid crystals. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1515136

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