Electrically Induced Hydrodynamic Effect in Nematics Caused by Volume Reduction

Abstract

A pressure gradient caused by the local field-induced reduction of the effective molecular volume results in a flow of the nematic liquid crystal (NLC). Here, the hydrodynamics of homeotropically aligned NLC molecules under the influence of this pressure gradient was studied theoretically. The equations describing the system were written and solved in the steady-state case using analytical methods, and the stationary velocity of the observed flow was found. We discussed the obtained results and compared them with existing experimental results.