Electro-optic and dielectric studies of silica nanoparticle doped ferroelectric liquid crystal in SmC* phase

Abstract

We present the results based on the electro-optic and dielectric properties of silica nanoparticle (SNP) doped ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in SmC* phase. Switching time, spontaneous polarization and rotational viscosity decreases with increase in the silica concentration. An improvement in switching time after doping the silica nanoparticle is due to enhancement in anchoring energy exist between silica nanoparticle and ferroelectric liquid crystal. We noticed that the dielectric permittivity and dielectric strength decreases with increasing the concentration of silica nanoparticle in SmC* phase. Relaxation frequency increases with increasing the silica concentration and temperature in SmC* and decreases as we approaches towards transition temperature.

Keywords:

• ferroelectric liquid crystal
• silica nanoparticle
• response time
• spontaneous polarization
• dielectric permittivity

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank the Director, NIT Jalandhar for continuous encouragement and support. They also sincerely thank the referee for his valuable suggestions. Ashok Chaudhary is thankful to MHRD, New Delhi, India for financial assistance.