Effects on the Magnitude of Spontaneous Polarization of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals.

Abstract

Exact value of spontaneous polarization (Ps) of ferroelectric liquid crystals were obtained by compensating ferroelectric hysteresis loop distortions. The compensated values of Ps obey the equation Ps=Po(Tc-T)β. Effects of experimental conditions on the parameters Tc, β and Po were investigated; for single domain cells, Tc and β are independent of cell thickness, however, Po increases with cell thickness and saturates at 20μm in thickness. Existence of alignment layers fixed on the cell surfaces or the screening effect of ionic charges accumulated near the electrodes were discussed.