Fréedericksz transition in confined liquid crystals: concentration and microgeometry effects.
The Fréedericksz transition in dispersions of liquid-crystal droplets is studied analytically by balancing the electrostatic energy of the droplets with a strong anchoring elastic energy. Explicit dependence of the transition threshold field on the liquid-crystal volume fraction and the spatial arrangement of the droplets is obtained for the first time. As a result of the confined geometry, this threshold field does not depend on the thickness of the sample and splitting of the transition occurs in some situations.
Levy
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Department of Physics, Nuclear Research Center Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer-Sheva 84190, Israel.