Theoretical Study of Convective Motions in Liquids and Liquid Crystals Induced by Laser Radiation with Gaussian Cross Distribution of Intensity

Abstract

Convective motion generated by Gaussian laser beam impinging normally on the sample was theoretically discussed in this study for both isotropic liquids and liquid crystals. Heat transfer, Navier-Stokes and director equations were solved numerically and corresponding distributions of heat, velocity and director were obtained. Rayleigh-Benard and Benard-Marangoni convections in liquid crystals were also discussed. It was shown that theoretical calculations are in a strong agreement with experiments done previously.

Keywords:

• Convection
• Gaussian beam
• liquid crystal
• director

Acknowledgment

This research was made possible by Armenian Award No 11-1c252.