Role of space charges on light-induced effects in nematic liquid crystals doped by methyl red

L. Lucchetti and F. Simoni
Phys. Rev. E 89, 032507 – Published 24 March 2014

Abstract

We show that both the extraordinarily large nonlinear response and the light-induced permanent reorientation in liquid crystals doped by the azo dye methyl red originates from the same phenomenon of modification of the charge density on the irradiated surface. The demonstration is done by applying ac voltage to the samples, showing that in this case no permanent anchoring is possible. The measurements confirm the role of photoisomerization that gives a transient contribution to the actual reorientation process only in the high dose regime. This result allows us to draw a picture for light-induced effects that might be applied to a large class of compounds.

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  • Received 5 December 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.032507

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

L. Lucchetti and F. Simoni

  • Dipartimento di Scienze e Ingegneria della Materia, dell’Ambiente ed Urbanistica and CNISM, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

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Vol. 89, Iss. 3 — March 2014

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