向列相液晶盒中的挠曲电体积效应

基于液晶弹性理论研究了电压作用下向列相液晶盒中的挠曲电体积效应.通过变分理论得到了液晶指向矢倾角θ满足的微分方程,利用差分迭代的方法计算了强锚定平行排列液晶盒和混合排列液晶盒中液晶指向矢的分布情况,利用琼斯矩阵的方法计算了两种液晶盒中电光特性曲线.结合计算结果分析了挠曲电体积效应对混合排列液晶盒中液晶指向矢分布及电光特性曲线的影响.     

液晶盒中挠曲电效应的计算

负性液晶MBBA在液晶盒中垂面排列,沿面外加电场后产生挠曲电效应.基于液晶弹性理论研究这一效应,基于变分理论得到了液晶指向矢满足的微分方程及边界条件.应用差分迭代方法进行了数值求解.在小角度近似下,得到了指向矢分布的解析解,与数值解和专著结果进行了比较.     

栅状表面液晶盒的光学属性

基于栅状表面等效锚定能公式和弹性理论,对Bryan-Brown等人提出的混和排列向列相液晶盒进行研究.通过变分理论得到指向矢倾角和扭曲角满足的方程和边界条件.根据这些方程和边界条件,利用差分迭代方法计算出指向矢倾角和扭曲角对应某一个δ/λ值在不同电压下的分布.应用琼斯矩阵方法,研究这种液晶盒的电光效应.这些结果都与栅状表面的几何参数有关,即与周期λ和振幅δ有关.     

挠曲电效应对向列相液晶盒响应时间的影响

应用液晶动力学理论和差分迭代方法,考虑上液晶挠曲电特性情形下研究强锚泊混合排列向列相液晶盒撤掉电压时的动态响应过程,数值计算得到液晶盒透过率随时间的变化.结果表明:随展曲和弯曲挠曲电系数和的绝对值|e₁₁+e₃₃|的增加,液晶盒的响应时间逐渐减小,当|e₁₁+e₃₃|=50 pC·m^-1时,响应时间与忽略挠曲电效应的情况相比缩短了一半.     

反扭曲向列相液晶盒中的引流

根据Erickson-Leslie流体动力学方程,研究了反扭曲向列相液晶盒.该液晶盒只有在有外场的情况下才会扭曲.通过计算模拟得出指向矢构形和流速与时间的关系.在外加电压情况下,由于存在引流效应导致指向矢分布不正常.     

全漏光导波技术确定液晶材料的挠曲电系数

利用全漏光导波技术,测量负性向列相液晶材料MS-N01300-000的展曲和弯曲挠曲电系数之和.根据液晶弹性和多层光学理论得到同一电压下不同挠曲电系数的反射率随内角(入射到液晶层角度)的理论变化曲线.实验中,将液晶材料灌注到混合排列向列相液晶盒中,在液晶盒上分别加交流电和直流电,采用全漏光导波技术得到反映液晶指向矢分布的液晶波导反射率随内角变化曲线.实验发现,由于液晶挠曲电作用,同一电压值下反射率随内角变化曲线发生微小移动.对比理论与实验曲线,由曲线移动距离得到MS-N01300-000液晶材料展曲和弯曲挠曲电系数之和为2.5×10-11 C/m.     

表面序电极化、挠曲电极化与向列液晶盒饱和点的双稳态

理论分析和数值模拟相结合,研究了表面序电极化、挠曲电极化对非对称弱锚定向列液晶盒在饱和点双稳态的影响,得到了两种极化共存时液晶指向矢满足的方程和边界条件.通过引入新的状态参量,从能量的角度对两种极化的物理效应进行了分析.结果表明,在一定条件下,两种极化耦合,在饱和点通过改变锚定能影响边界条件,从而诱导双稳态.文中给出了判断是否存在双稳态的一般条件,此条件与数值计算结果符合. 关键词： 表面序电极化 挠曲电极化 饱和点 双稳态     

扭曲向列相液晶电光效应的微观机理研究

为了探究液晶电光效应的微观机理,以扭曲向列相液晶为研究对象,对液晶分子的变化情况进行了理论分析。运用连续体弹性理论分析了扭曲向列相液晶分子的指向矢取向变化,并对液晶电光效应曲线不同区间范围液晶微观结构的变化进行了系统分析。结果表明:液晶分子在零电场条件下的扭曲是均匀的;当外加电场大于某一值时,液晶分子开始转向,液晶产生电光效应。研究结果对液晶显示器件设计和深入理解液晶电光效应机理具有一定的指导意义。     

表面极化对弱锚定向列液晶盒饱和特性的影响

以修正后的Rapini-Papoular锚定能公式为基础, 用理论分析和数值计算相结合的方法, 详细研究表面极化对液晶盒饱和特性的影响. 得出了求解指向矢分布的数学方程, 推导出了计算正常二级转变饱和电压的解析式, 同时结合最新报道, 给出了异常一级转变饱和电压的数值计算方法. 此外, 本文引入了反映指向矢分布特征的参量, 讨论了表面极化对此参量的影响. 结果表明, 指向矢最大倾角的位置随表面极化的增大将远离中央平面向基板移动. 一级转变饱和电压随弱锚定基板表面极化的增大而减小, 随强锚定基板表面极化的增大而增大. 而对二级转变, 饱和电压随表面极化的变化与一级转变恰恰相反. 本文所得结论对液晶表面物理的理解及液晶实际应用都具有重要的指导意义.     

手性沿面排列IPS模式液晶盒中的动态响应

根据Ericksen和Leslie的液晶弹性理论和动力学理论对共面转换液晶显示器件(IPS LCDs)响应时间参数进行分析,将手性平行排列引入这种模式,给出此种盒中的指向矢分布的动态方程.通过计算液晶盒中的瞬时指向矢分布,得到响应时间参数与扭曲角之间的关系.计算结果表明:具有一定扭曲角的手性沿面排列IPS模式的液晶盒将会有很高的响应速度.     

Theoretical analysis of the influence of flexoelectric effect on the defect site in nematic inversion walls

Based on the experimental phenomena of flexoelectric response at defect sites in nematic inversion walls conducted by Kumar et al., we gave the theoretical analysis using the Frank elastic theory. When a direct-current electric field normal to the plane of the substrate is applied to the parallel aligned nematic liquid crystal cell with weak anchoring, the rotation of ± 1 defects in the narrow inversion walls can be exhibited. The free energy of liquid crystal molecules around the +1 and-1 defect sites in the nematic inversion walls under the electric field was formulated and the electric-field-driven structural changes at the defect site characterized by polar and azimuthal angles of the local director were simulated. The results reveal that the deviation of azimuthal angle induced by flexoelectric effect are consistent with the switching of extinction brushes at the +1 and-1 defects obtained in the experiment conducted by Kumar et al.     

Threshold and saturation properties of the field-induced twist cell with two parameters weak anchoring boundaries

On the basis of two-parameter formula of weak surface coupling anchoring energy of nematic liquid crystals proposed by Zhao et al recently, the general torque equilibrium equation and boundary conditions of the director have been obtained and the threshold field as well as the saturation field of the field-induced twist cell have been analysed for three kinds of configurations, i.e. homogeneous, splay and Pi cells formed by different rubbing conditions and pretilt angles. The results indicated that the polar anchoring has no effect on the threshold field. It is determined only by the twist anchoring and pretilt angle. But, the polar anchoring and twist anchoring are coupling with each other and have a great influence on the saturation field. The formulae for calculating the threshold field and saturation field are given. These results will be very useful in understanding surface physics and the design of liquid crystal cells.     

Friedericksz threshold field in bipolar nematic droplets with strong surface anchoring

A numerical method has been developed for calculating the director configuration in ellipsoidal droplets of a nematic liquid crystal with strong tangential anchoring in a uniform magnetic field of an arbitrary orientation. A relation has been obtained for determining the Friedericksz threshold corresponding to the beginning of the reorientation of the central region of a droplet when the field is orthogonal to the biopolar axis. The effect of the breaking of the orthogonal condition on the threshold character of the orientation process is considered. The reorientation of the ensemble of bipolar droplets of the 5CB nematic liquid crystal dispersed in polyvinyl butyral has been studied by the magneto-optical method. Comparative analysis of calculation data and measured values of the threshold field has been performed.     

Hydrodynamics of nematic liquid crystals due to direct volume expansion

Hydrodynamics of planar nematic liquid crystal molecules under the influence of horizontal pressure gradient was studied, theoretically. The pressure gradient is due to nematic liquid crystal volume expansion which is a consequence of the incompressibility of the liquid. The resulting director reorientation which is due to coupling between the director orientation and fluidity of the liquid is calculated numerically for the hard and weak anchoring conditions at the cell walls.     

Study of intrinsic anchoring in nematic liquid crystals based on modified Gruhn-Hess pair potential

A nematic liquid crystal slab composed of N molecular layers is investigated using a simple cubic lattice model, based upon the molecular pair potential which is spatially anisotropic and dependent on elastic constants of liquid crystals. A perfect nematic order is assumed in the theoretical treatment, which means the orientation of the molecular long axis coincides with the director of liquid crystal and the total free energy equals to the total interaction energy. We present a modified Gruhn-Hess model, which is relative to the splay-bend elastic constant K₁₃. Furthermore, we have studied the free nematic interfacial behavior (intrinsic anchoring) by this model in the assumption of the perfect nematic order. We find that the preferred orientation at the free interface and the intrinsic anchoring strength change with the value of modification, and that the director profile can be determined by the competition of the intrinsic anchoring with external forces present in the system. Also we simulate the intrinsic anchoring at different temperatures using Monte Carlo method and the simulation results show that the intrinsic anchoring favors planar alignment and the free interface is more disordered than the bulk.     

First-order Fréedericksz transition at the threshold point for weak anchoring nematic liquid crystal cell under external electric and magnetic fields

Based on the modified formula of Rapini-Papoular, the equilibrium equation and boundary condition of the director have been obtained and the behaviour of the Fréedericksz transition at the threshold point has been studied for weak-anchoring nematic liquid crystal cells under external electric and magnetic fields with the methods of analytical derivation and numerical calculation. The results show that, except for the usual second-order transition, the first-order Fréedericksz transition can also be induced by a suitable surface anchoring technique for the liquid crystal cell given in the paper. The conditions for the existence of the first-order Fréedericksz transition are obtained. They are related to the material elastic coefficient k_{11}, k_{33} the thickness of the liquid crystal cell, the external electric field and the strength of surface anchoring, etc.     

Influence of Surface Geometry of Grating Substrate on Director in Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell

The director in nematic liquid crystal cell with a weak anchoring grating substrate and a strong anchoring planar substrate is relative to the coordinates x and z. The influence of the surface geometry of the grating substrate in the cell on the director profile is numerically simulated using the two-dimensional finite-difference iterative method under the condition of one elastic constant approximation and zero driven voltage. The deepness of groove and the cell gap affect the distribution of director. For the relatively shallow groove and the relatively thick cell gap, the director is only dependent on the coordinate z. For the relatively deep groove and the relatively thin cell gap, the director must be dependent on the two coordinates x and z because of the increased elastic strain energy induced by the grating surface.     

Experimental design to measure the anchoring energy on substrate surface by using the alternating-current bridge

The anchoring property of the substrate surface of liquid crystal cells plays an important role in display and nondisplay fields. This property directly affects the deformation of liquid crystal molecules to change the phase difference through liquid crystal cells. In this paper, a test method based on the alternating-current bridge is proposed to determine the capacitance of liquid crystal cells and thus measure the anchoring energy of the substrate surface. The anchoring energy can be obtained by comparing the capacitance–voltage curves of twisted nematic liquid crystal cells with different anchoring properties in experimental and theoretical results simulated on the basis of Frank elastic theory. Compared with the other methods to determine the anchoring energy, our proposed method requires a simple treatment of liquid crystal cells and allows easy and high-accuracy measurements, thereby expanding the test ideas on the performance parameters of liquid crystal devices.     

Anisotropic stokes drag and dynamic lift on cylindrical colloids in a nematic liquid crystal

We have measured the Stokes drag on magnetic nanowires suspended in the nematic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). The effective drag viscosity for wires moving perpendicular to the nematic director differs from that for motion parallel to the director by factors of 0.88 to 2.4, depending on the orientation of the wires and their surface anchoring. When the force on the wires is applied at an oblique angle to the director, the wires move at an angle to the force, demonstrating the existence of a lift force on particles moving in a nematic. This dynamic lift is significantly larger for wires with homeotropic anchoring than with longitudinal anchoring in the experiments, suggesting the lift force as a mechanism for sorting particles according to their surface properties.