DIRECTOR MOVEMENT AND POTENTIAL FUNCTION OF SURFACE STABILIZED FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL CELLS BY ELECTROOPTICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Electrooptical investigations on a ferroelectric liquid crystal (DOBAMBC) were carried out on a well aligned sample in a 2 μm cell. On the basis of these measurements the complete average director movement during a switching process caused by an electric field can be calculated and will be discussed. The thermodynamic potentials at the SA-SC phase transition were determined from the experimental results with a modified Landau theory. They serve as a basis for a discussion of the phase transition and the influence of the surface orientation. Some preliminary results were obtained concerning the electrooptical behaviour of the SH phase. © 1990 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.