title: Field-induced periodic distortions in a nematic liquid crystal: deuterium NMR study and theoretical analysis.
abstract: The peculiarities in the dynamic of the director reorientation in a liquid crystal (LC) film under the influence of the electric E field directed at an angle α to the magnetic B field have been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Time-resolved deuterium NMR spectroscopy is employed to investigate the field-induced director dynamics. Analysis of the experimental results, based on the predictions of hydrodynamic theory including both the director motion and fluid flow, provides an evidence for the appearance of the spatially periodic patterns in 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl LC film, at the angles α>60∘, in response to the suddenly applied E. These periodic distortions produce a lower effective rotational viscosity. This gives a faster response of the director rotation than for a uniform mode, as observed in our NMR experiment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Systems Engineering, Osaka Sangyo University, 3-1-1 Nakagaito, Daito-shi, Osaka 574-8530, Japan. sugimura@ise.osaka-sandai.ac.jp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sugimura
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Zakharov