| Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 48, Number 6, December 1999
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 634 - 640 | |
| Section | Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i1999-00531-8 | |
| Published online | 01 September 2002 | |
Non-linear dynamics of the electro-optic response of confined liquid crystals
1
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Università di Pavia - via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
2
Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia - Italy
3
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università "Bicocca” - 20133 Milano, Italy
4
Dipartimento di Scienze dei Materiali e della Terra, Università di Ancona, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Received:
26
May
1999
Accepted:
20
October
1999
We have experimentally studied the electro-optic response of two different classes of systems consisting of a nematic liquid crystal either dispersed into a solid polymer matrix or mixed with aggregated silica particles forming a random gel network. By monitoring the time evolution of the optical transparency of the system under the action of electric field pulses, we have found that the response times depend in an intriguing and non-monotonic fashion on the field strength. We show that the observed nonlinear behavior can be interpreted by a simple visco-elastic model of the liquid crystal domains combined with an accurate description of their light scattering cross-section.
PACS: 61.30.Eb – Experimental determinations of smectic, nematic, cholesteric, and other structures / 78.35.+c – Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering; other light scattering
© EDP Sciences, 1999
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