title: Thermodielectric bistability in dual frequency nematic liquid crystal.
abstract: We report on a thermodielectric bistability in dual frequency nematic liquid crystals (LCs) caused by the anisotropic nature of dielectric heating and director reorientation in an electric field. The bistability is a result of the positive feedback loop: director reorientation --> anisotropic dielectric heating --> dielectric anisotrophy --> director reorientation. We demonstrate both experimentally and theoretically that two states with different temperature and director orientation, namely, a cold planar state and a hot homeotropic state coexist in a LC cell for a certain frequency and amplitude range of the applied voltage.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Physics Interdisplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Shiyanovskii
authors.forename: O D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Lavrentovich
mesh_terms: D003080:Cold Temperature; D004560:Electricity; D006361:Heating; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics