Reentrant phases in compensated ferrocholesterics

Influence of magnetic field on orientation and magnetic properties of a compensated ferrocholesteric, a suspension of needle-like ferromagnetic particles in a cholesteric liquid crystal, was studied theoretically. A phase transition from a ferrocholesteric to a ferronematic state in a magnetic field oriented normally to the axis of the helical structure was considered. The dependences of the transition field to the ferronematic phase on the material parameters of the suspension and of the helical structure pitch and magnetization on the field strength were investigated. A possibility of existence of a reentrant ferrocholesteric phase was shown.

     

Influence of the segregation effect on the magnetic and optical properties of a compensated ferronematic liquid crystal

The Freedericksz transition in splay and bend geometry in a ferronematic (a suspension of single-domain magnetic particles in a nematic liquid crystal) is considered in the framework of the continuum theory. In zero magnetic field, the ferronematic was assumed to be compensated (i.e., having equal fractions of an impurity with magnetic moments directed parallel and antiparallel to the local director). Spatial distortions of the director and the concentration redistribution of the magnetic impurity in the ferronematic layer are studied as functions of the applied magnetic field and the segregation parameter. It is shown that the magnetic-field induced Freedericksz transition from the homogeneous to the inhomogeneous state has a threshold nature. The transition field as a function of the material parameters of the ferronematic is determined analytically. Magnetization of the ferronematic and its optical properties for a strong and weak segregation as functions of the magnetic field are studied.     

Magnetic-field induced orientational transition in a helicoidal liquid-crystalline antiferromagnet

The magnetic-field induced orientational transition in helicoidal liquid-crystalline antiferromagnets representing compensated suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles in cholesteric liquid crystals is theoretically studied. The untwisting of a helicoidal structure and the behavior of mean magnetization as a function of the field strength and material parameters are investigated. It is shown that the magnetic subsystems in the field-untwisted ferronematic phase are not completely compensated, and the ferronematic phase is ferrimagnetic.     

Cholesteric–nematic transitions induced by a shear flow and a magnetic field

The untwisting of the helical structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal under the action of a magnetic field and a shear flow has been studied theoretically. Both factors can induce the cholesteric–nematic transition independently; however, the difference in the orienting actions of the magnetic field and the shear flow leads to competition between magnetic and hydrodynamic mechanisms of influence on the cholesteric liquid crystal. We have analyzed different orientations of the magnetic field relative to the direction of the flow in the shear plane. In a number of limiting cases, the analytic dependences are obtained for the pitch of the cholesteric helix deformed by the shear flow. The phase diagrams of the cholesteric–nematic transitions and the pitch of the cholesteric helix are calculated for different values of the magnetic field strength and the angle of orientation, the flow velocity gradient, and the reactive parameter. It is shown that the magnetic field stabilizes the orientation of the director in the shear flow and expands the boundaries of orientability of cholesterics. It has been established that the shear flow shifts the critical magnetic field strength of the transition. It is shown that a sequence of reentrant orientational cholesteric–nematic–cholesteric transitions can be induced by rotating the magnetic field in certain intervals of its strength and shear flow velocity gradients.     

Spatial distortions of the orientational structure of a ferronematic in the presence of external fields

Spatial distortions of the director field and magnetization of a ferronematic (suspension of magnetic nanoparticles in a nematic liquid crystal) that are induced by simultaneous action of electric and magnetic fields are studied with allowance for the flexoelectric polarization of the liquid-crystalline matrix. Soft coupling of liquid crystal and magnetic particles and layer boundaries is considered. The dependence of the phase lag of the transmitted light on the external magnetic field is analyzed.     

Orientational transitions in a ferronematic layer with bistable anchoring at the boundary

A possibility of the first-order transition, as well as reentrant transitions, induced by an external magnetic field between the homeotropic phase and the hybrid homeotropically planar phase in a ferronematic liquid crystal (ferronematic) with bistable anchoring at the layer boundary is demonstrated in the framework of a continuum theory. The critical values of the material parameters of the ferronematic, the anchoring energy, the thickness of the layer, and the magnetic field strength, for which this transition is possible, are determined. The cases of positive and negative diamagnetic anisotropy of the ferronematic are considered.     

Orientational Instability and Hysteresis Phenomena in a Ferronematic Liquid Crystal in a Magnetic Field

A magnetic-field-induced orientational structure in a ferronematic (FN) liquid crystal (LC) layer is studied within the continuum theory. The rotation angles of the director and the magnetization and the concentration of magnetic impurity corresponding to a supertwisted orientational structure of the suspension are calculated. It is shown that the deviation angle of the director from the direction of the external field has the hysteresis region in which the orientational structure of the FN changes stepwise from a state with a positive twist of the director to a state with a negative twist. A value of the magnetic field strength is found above which orientational bistability regions arise. It is shown that orientational instability under the rotation of the field most clearly manifests itself in FNs with strong anchoring of particles to the LC matrix. It is established that the effect of magnetic segregation responsible for the redistribution of magnetic particles in the layer leads to the expansion of the hysteresis region and to a decrease in the field at which orientational instability arises. It is shown that, in FNs with soft anchoring between magnetic and LC subsystems, there exist several response modes to a quasistatic rotation of the magnetic field.     

Tricritical phenomena in ferronematic liquid crystals

Orientational transitions induced by an external magnetic field in a ferronematic (a suspension of single-domain magnetic particles in a nematic liquid crystal) are considered in the framework of the continuum theory. The surface potential of the interaction between the ferronematic and the bounding plates is used taking into account the fourth-order anisotropy (the modified Rapini potential). It is shown that the ferronematic can be in one of three phases that correspond to three types of orientational ordering: homogeneous ordering, inhomogeneous ordering, and saturation state. The influence of the segregation effect of magnetic particles on the nature of orientational transitions of the ferronematic in an external field is studied. It is established that the transitions between these phases can be of the first and second order depending on the values of the anchoring parameters and the segregation parameter. Tricritical values of the parameter of anchoring anisotropy and the segregation parameter are determined.     

Effect of electric and magnetic fields on the orientation structure of a ferronematic liquid crystal

We analyze uniform orientation phases in soft ferronematics (suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles in nematic liquid crystals) induced by electric and magnetic fields. It is shown that the competition between the electric and magnetic fields can lead to various sequences of orientation transitions in a ferronematic depending on the energy of coupling between the director and magnetization. We obtain and analyze phase diagrams of these transitions. A sequence of re-entrant transitions in the orientation structure (angular phase-homeotropic phase-angular phase-planar phase) is predicted for a certain range of the coupling energies and electric field strengths.