Abstract.
We have experimentally observed the biaxial switching between two topologically distinct textures of a nematic liquid crystal cell submitted to a strong electric field. The effect is deduced from optical and electrical measurements across the cell. Above a static threshold, a bulk order reconstruction is observed, where the final nematic orientation in the centre becomes perpendicular to its initial one, inducing a total \(\pi\) change of orientation across the cell. Using short electric field pulses, a higher dynamical threshold is observed. These experiments are explained by a Landau-de Gennes-Khalatnikov model. The threshold implies the local exchange of two eigenvalues of the nematic order tensor through intermediate biaxial states. The onset of the effect in a thin splay-bend wall decreases the static threshold by almost an order of magnitude. The model explains reasonably well the static and dynamic measurements within the present description of nematic biaxiality.
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Received: 10 November 2003, Published online: 2 March 2004
PACS:
61.30.Gd Orientational order of liquid crystals; electric and magnetic field effects on order - 61.30.Jf Defects in liquid crystals
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Barberi, R., Ciuchi, F., Durand, G.E. et al. Electric field induced order reconstruction in a nematic cell. Eur. Phys. J. E 13, 61–71 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/e2004-00040-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/e2004-00040-5