Flexo-electricity of the dowser texture

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the dowser texture in nematic liquid crystals exhibits first-order sensitivity to electric fields due to flexo-electric polarization, enabling manipulation of nematic monopoles through electric field geometry.

Contribution

It reveals the flexo-electric response of the dowser texture and proposes a method to manipulate nematic monopoles using electric fields.

Findings

Dowser texture is sensitive to electric fields via flexo-electric polarization.

Nematic monopoles can be manipulated by electric fields.

Flexo-electric effects enable control of topological defects.

Abstract

The persistent quasi-planar nematic texture known also as the dowser texture is characterized by a 2D unitary vector field d. We show here that the dowser texture is sensitive, in first order, to electric fields. This property is due to the flexo-electric polarisation P collinear with d expected from R.B. Meyer's considerations on flexo-electricity in nematics. It is pointed out that due to the flexo-electric polarisation nematic monopoles can be manipulated by electric fields of appropriated geometry.