title: Field control of the surface electroclinic effect in chiral smectic-A liquid crystals.
abstract: The surface electroclinic effect, which causes an azimuthal deviation of the layer normal from the surface rubbing direction in cells of chiral smectic- A liquid crystals, can be eliminated (and even reversed) by applying an electric field during cooling from the isotropic phase. The observed dependence of layer orientation on field strength leads to a model in which the surface electroclinic tilt results from an effective surface electric field. The experiements suggest a general method for controlling the azimuthal layer alignment of chiral smectic cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, and Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Maclennan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Ren-Fan
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Walba
authors.forename: Noel A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Clark