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Electrohydrodynamic Instabilities in Nematic Liquid Crystals

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Introduction to Liquid Crystals

Abstract

The best-known electrohydrodynamic instabilities in liquid crystals are the Williams domains.1 They are observed when an electric field is applied to a thin layer of a nematic liquid crystal having negative dielectric anisotropy and sufficient electrical conductivity. They manifest themselves as a set of parallel straight lines separated by a constant distance that is approximately equal to the cell thickness. They appear above a well-defined threshold voltage and exist in their original form over only a small voltage range. At higher voltages, the pattern becomes more complicated and leads to heavily scattering turbulence (dynamic scattering).2

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RCA Laboratories, Princeton, N. J., 08540, USA

    Dietrich Meyerhofer

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  1. Dietrich Meyerhofer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RCA Laboratories, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

    E. B. Priestley , Peter J. Wojtowicz  & Ping Sheng ,  & 

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© 1975 RCA Laboratories

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Meyerhofer, D. (1975). Electrohydrodynamic Instabilities in Nematic Liquid Crystals. In: Priestley, E.B., Wojtowicz, P.J., Sheng, P. (eds) Introduction to Liquid Crystals. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2175-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2175-0_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-2177-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-2175-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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