THE OBSERVATION OF 1/2 SPLAYED STATES IN FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL FILLED CELLS BY THE EXCITATION OF OPTIC MODES

Splayed states in ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) cells are seen in general if the elastic distortion energy involved is less than the surface polar interaction energy. Here such states are examined by the propagation of optic modes along a thin layer of FLC. This allows the examination of the optic tensor configuration and indicates the existence of a pinned point at the chevron interface in the smectic layering. This leads to the direct observation that in a chevron type cell these are actually half splayed states, where one half of the cell is uniform, and the other half is splayed. It is seen that the splayed part can be switched between the two halves of the cell. © 1990 IOP Publishing Ltd.