Electroconvection of liquid crystal controlled by patterned electrodes

Abstract

Liquid crystal, such as N-(4-Methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA), under AC voltage is an excellent showcase of pattern formation. Close to the bifurcation point, the parallel roll pattern is observed whose typical length scale is determined by the gap width of a cell, and the pattern with broad wave number is excited while increasing the applied voltage. However, we found that the pattern can be controlled even at high voltage by spatial modulation of the electric fields induced by patterned electrodes. In this study, we explore the relationship between the pattern of an electrode and the electroconvection pattern of MBBA.