Abstract

The helical structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal can be modified or even completely unwound by an applied electric field. This is well understood in terms of the coupling of the electric field to the dielectric anisotropy of the liquid crystal, an effect which is quadratic in the amplitude of the electric field. In this paper we report the measurements of optical switching times for a new effect in cholesteric liquid crystals which arises because of flexoelectric coupling¹ and which is linear in the electric field.²

© 1988 Optical Society of America