Nonlinear Electrooptical Spectra of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

We have studied the nonlinear electrooptical relaxation spectra of the Goldstone mode in a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC). The experimentally obtained linear spectrum shows a single relaxation of Debye type and the nonlinear spectra of second and third orders exhibit an extended form of Debye type to the nonlinear case. We have also studied the electrooptical response theoretically by means of a simple torque balance equation describing the dynamics of the Goldstone mode. It is found that the linear and nonlinear spectra calculated are in good agreement with the experimentally obtained ones.