Simulation of a cholesteric blue phase cell of finite thickness under an electric field

Abstract

We investigate the structures of a cholesteric blue phase (BP) cell of finite thickness under an electric field. We carry out large scale numerical calculations based on the Landau-de Gennes theory describing the orientational order by a second-rank tensor. Attention is paid to the so-called BP X and the BP I, and their electrostriction is demonstrated to be such that the number of periodic structures is discretized by the anchoring of cell surfaces. We also calculate the reflectivity spectra of these BP structures to confirm the shift of the peak attributable to the electrostriction.