Dielectric properties of nematic liquid crystals in the ultralow frequency regime

The dielectric properties of nematic liquid crystal (4-cyano-4'-n-pentylbiphenyl: 5CB) cells in the ultralow frequency regime was investigated. A dielectric relaxation, whose relaxation time is 160 s, is observed at 303 K, and the dielectric relaxation is found to be independent of applied electric field. It is shown that the dieIectric relaxation is caused by the Helmholtz double layer formed by the adsorption of impurity ions in 5CB onto the electrode surfaces of the cells, and hence the thickness of the double layer is comparable to the radius of impurity ions in 5CB. The dielectric relaxation obeys the empirical Cole-Cole circular are law, indicating that dielectric relaxation times are distributed. The distribution of dielectric relaxation times can be explained in terms of distributed thicknesses of the Helmholtz double layer. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.