Open AccessOptically-driven switching of a planar nematic liquid crystal cell with parallel rubbing
Author(s) -
Varsenik Nersesyan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
photonics letters of poland
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.184
H-Index - 16
ISSN - 2080-2242
DOI - 10.4302/plp.v9i2.715
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , planar , rubbing , optics , electric field , materials science , switching time , tilt (camera) , physics , voltage , condensed matter physics , optoelectronics , geometry , computer graphics (images) , mathematics , quantum mechanics , computer science , composite material
This letter reports on the switching of a planar nematic liquid crystal cell with parallel rubbing of the alignment layers, under the application of a voltage, when there is initially an optical field. The voltage application over the liquid crystal in such a cell leads normally to the formation of multiple domains because the two switching directions are equivalent. However, an incident optical field under an angle will locally reorient the director and break the symmetry between the equivalent switching directions. The subsequent application of a voltage pulse amplifies the tilt angle and leads to the formation of a dominant domain, with an order of magnitude larger in size than the optical beam profile. Several switching conditions are demonstrated for different incident angles of the beam. It is shown that the final switching direction of the entire cell is determined by the tilt angle of the optical field. The lensing effects due to the modified director distribution in the domain walls is analyzed qualitatively