Abstract

We have found selective adsorption to be responsible for the observed increase in liquid crystal ion populations as test cells are driven. Increasing ion populations correlated well with evidence of increased shielding of an applied voltage. A number of different alignment layers were compared for their tendency toward selective absorption. To investigate the interaction between ions and the alignment layers, in addition to liquid crystals a number of alcane liquids with known ionic components were used in test cells. A computer-implemented simulation of ion behavior was developed and used to verify our interpretations of our experimental results.

© 1995 Optical Society of America