THE BISTABILITY OF THE SURFACE-STABILIZED FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL EFFECT IN ELECTRICALLY REORIENTED CHEVRON STRUCTURES

Low-frequency electric field treatment irreversibly changes the chevron structure of a surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid-crystal sample: the angle between the smectic layers and the surface normal decreases. As a result different textures appear, and a pronounced effect on the switching behavior is observed. The switching angle and the necessary pulse amplitudes at constant pulse width in order to obtain switching between both stable states have increased. The required reorientation voltages decrease with rising spontaneous polarization. This reorientation process is strongly influenced by the rubbing treatment of the alignment layer. The anchoring properties of the alignment layer seem to be directly responsible for the appearance of defects, for the initial switching angle, for the electric field strength necessary to reorient the chevron structure, and for the pulse amplitudes required to switch between both stable states.