Electrooptical properties of multidomain liquid crystal structures

A physical model of the surfactant-assisted formation of multidomain structures is proposed, and a method of formation of planarly and homeotropically aligned regions on the same substrate is developed. The method makes it possible to form the following multidomain structures: homeotropic-hybrid, homeotropictwisted, hybrid-planar, hybrid-hybrid, and homeotropic-planar. The electropptical properties of multidomain liquid crystal cells are experimentally studied. The director deformation and the phase delay in multidomain structures in an electric field are calculated taking into account the boundary conditions for the director orientation angles on substrates, and results of calculations are compared with experiment. Possible applications of multidomain liquid crystal structures are discussed.