Polymer-disordered liquid crystals: Susceptibility to electric field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how nematic liquid crystals in polymer networks respond to electric fields, combining simulations and analytical models to understand domain structures and optimize electro-optic properties.

Contribution

It introduces a combined simulation and analytical approach to study electric field effects on disordered liquid crystal-polymer systems, predicting domain sizes and order.

Findings

Electric fields induce large, temperature-independent orientational order.

Simulation results agree with analytical predictions.

Insights for optimizing materials for electro-optic applications.

Abstract

When nematic liquid crystals are embedded in random polymer networks, the disordered environment disrupts the long-range order, producing a glassy state. If an electric field is applied, it induces large and fairly temperature-independent orientational order. To understand the experiments, we simulate a liquid crystal in a disordered polymer network, visualize the domain structure, and calculate the response to a field. Furthermore, using an Imry-Ma-like approach we predict the domain size and estimate the field-induced order. The simulations and analytic results agree with each other, and suggest how the materials can be optimized for electro-optic applications.