Correlation between static and dynamic polarimetric properties and the texture of surface-stabilised ferroelectric liquid crystal cells

Abstract

Snapshot Mueller matrix polarimetry was performed for static and dynamic analyses of surface-stabilised ferroelectric liquid crystal cells under an electric field. A strong correlation between the static (at fixed voltage) and dynamic (upon field reversal) polarimetric properties and the texture of ferroelectric liquid crystal cells was established. The birefringence properties were different between a rooftop/zigzag-textured cell and a stripe-textured cell. The trajectory of the optic axis, plotted over the transition between two addressed states, was analysed for each cell. The shape of the trajectories could be explained by a reversible motion of the smectic layers while switching.

Keywords:

• liquid crystals
• surface-stabilised ferroelectric liquid crystal
• optical characterisation
• polarimetry
• Mueller matrix
• dynamics
• smectic layers

Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. Zion for technical realisations, M.P. Friocourt for help with the English in this paper, and the Laboratoire de Magnétisme de Bretagne for the acquisition of polarising microscopy images. This work is financially supported in part by the ‘Conseil General du Finistère’.