Nematic liquid crystal dynamics under applied electric fields

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to explore how electric fields influence the textures and defect formations in two-dimensional nematic liquid crystals, revealing dependence on field orientation and dielectric anisotropy.

Contribution

The paper introduces a detailed numerical analysis of nematic liquid crystal dynamics under electric fields, considering various anisotropies and orientations, with new insights into defect formation mechanisms.

Findings

Electric field orientation affects defect types.

Dielectric anisotropy influences texture evolution.

Electric pulses modify characteristic length scales.

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the dynamics of liquid crystal textures in a two-dimensional nematic under applied electric fields, using numerical simulations performed using a publicly available LIquid CRystal Algorithm (LICRA) developed by the authors. We consider both positive and negative dielectric anisotropies and two different possibilities for the orientation of the electric field (parallel and perpendicular to the two-dimensional lattice). We determine the effect of an applied electric field pulse on the evolution of the characteristic length scale and other properties of the liquid crystal texture network. In particular, we show that different types of defects are produced after the electric field is switched on, depending on the orientation of the electric field and the sign of the dielectric anisotropy.