External field-induced switching in nematic elastomers: a Monte Carlo study.
We present a Monte Carlo study of external field-induced switching in nematic elastomers, employing a coarse-grained shearable lattice model. In large enough systems a full-wavelength Fréedericksz effect is observed --as opposed to the half-wavelength effect seen in ordinary nematics-- that clearly reflects in simulated polarized light textures, as well as in deuterium magnetic resonance spectra. The reorientation of mesogenic units is accompanied by pronounced shear deformations.
Skacej
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Dipartimento di Chimica Fisica ed Inorganica and INSTM, Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 4, I-40136, Bologna, Italy. gregor.skacej@fmf.uni-lj.si
Zannoni
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