The Effect of Polymer Doping on the Formation of Helical Structure in Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

The effect of polymer stabilization on the helical structure of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and the deformation of the helical structure under the application of an electric field has not been cleared. In this study, conoscope observations for polymer-stabilized (PS) FLCs were performed, and we try to examine the polymer anchoring strength from the comparison between the experimental and the computer simulation results. It is found that the helical structure can be stabilized by introducing polymer networks, and the elastic constant of PSFLC may increase in different classes even in a few polymer concentration. Furthermore, it is found that the polymer stabilization can suppress the temperature variation of the elastic constant.

Keywords:

• Ferroelectric liquid crystal
• conoscope
• computer simulation
• polymer stabilization
• anchoring strength

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. H. Fukuro and Mr. H. Endoh of Nissan Chem. Ind. for supplying polyimide materials. We also thank to Dr. H. Takatsu and Dr. H. Hasebe of Dainippon Ink and Chemicals for supplying photocurable mesogenic materials.