The effect of rotational viscosity on the memory effect in ferroelectric liquid crystal

Memory effect in deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystal (DHFLC) is not a new phenomenon. Although it was reported 12 years ago yet its exact physical behavior is not explained. It has been thought by various researchers all over the work that it might be a transient memory effect. In the present study, it has been observed and predicted that memory effect is of long duration and shows remarkable dependencies on the voltage and frequency of the driving electrical pulse, which is entirely different from the memory effect in surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC). The memory effect in SSFLC is primarily due to surface effect but in DHFLC. its ultra-short pitch plays a dominant role. So. it has been observed that the memory effect in DHFLC is due to its high viscosity and inter/intra layer dipolar interactions. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.