Fernández-Nieves A, Link D R, Rudhardt D, Weitz D A
Department of Physics and DEAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Mar 12;92(10):105503. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.105503.
We directly visualize the response and relaxation dynamics of bipolar nematic liquid crystal droplets to an applied electric field E. Despite strong planar anchoring, there is no critical field for switching. Instead, upon application of E, the surface region first reorients, followed by movement of the disclinations and the bipolar axis. After removing E, elastic forces restore the drop to its original state. The collective electro-optic properties of ordered hexagonal-close-packed monolayers of drops are probed by diffraction experiments confirming the proposed switching mechanism.
我们直接观察了双极向列型液晶微滴在外加电场E作用下的响应和弛豫动力学。尽管存在强平面锚定作用，但不存在切换的临界场。相反，施加电场E时，表面区域首先重新取向，随后位错和双极轴移动。去除电场E后，弹性力使微滴恢复到原始状态。通过衍射实验探测了有序六方密堆积单层微滴的集体电光特性，证实了所提出的切换机制。
