Electric field effects on director pattern and disclinations in free standing nematic films of 8CB

Abstract

Studies of electric field-induced orientational effects are carried out on substrate-free nematic 8CB films, held between parallel electrodes and containing a peripheral-1/2 loop. The loop separates the birefringent boundary from the central homeotropic zone. Static and dynamic characteristics of the splay-bend layers contiguous to the electrodes are investigated by polarizing microscopy. A model based on director field symmetry is proposed to explain (a) the growth of the transition layers independently of the associated singularities and (b) the formation or otherwise of static solitons (Brochard-Leger walls). Linear dependence of the growth rate of transition layers on field strength is compared with a similar behaviour for line defects. Bifurcation of a soliton at elevated voltages into a pair of - 1/2 lines, through a non-pincement process, is described.