Characterization of large tilt-angle flexoelectro-optic switching in chiral nematic liquid crystal devices

The ‘flexoelastic ratio’ is commonly used to characterise the electro-optic behaviour of chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) devices that exhibit flexoelectro-optic switching. There has been renewed interest in this electro-optic effect of late as new LC materials and mixtures have been developed that exhibit large tilt angles, Ø, of the optic axis (Ø ≥ 45°) whilst maintaining a fast response time (< 1 ms). In this study, we compare the different flexoelastic ratios that are obtained for fixed and variable-pitch chiral nematic LCs for materials with a tilt of the optic axis as large as Ø = ± 45°. We show that for large tilt angles of the optic axis the values for the two different flexoelastic ratios measurably diverge. Of the two ratios, we propose that for large tilt-angle mixtures it is more appropriate to use the flexoelastic ratio that is derived for the case when the pitch of the helix is constrained. In addition, a simple way of determining the ‘pitch-constrained’ flexoelastic ratio is presented that involves identifying the electric field amplitude at the point for which the transmission levels are the same for both positive and negative electric field polarities.