Flexoelectrically controlled twist of texture in a nematic liquid crystal

Overview & Synopsis

We describe a new flexoelectric volume effect in homogeneous electric field, in the nematic phase of MBBA. An initial splay-bend texture is created by strong antagonistic planar and homeotropic anchoring on two glass plates. This results in a volume flexoelectric polarization. A transverse DC electric field creates a twist of the texture, which can be measured by the resulting wave guided rotation of light polarization. We obtain the volume flexoelectric constant e1 - e3 = + 1.0 ± 0.2 × 10-4 stat C/cm at 20 °C. The continuously controllable light polarization rotation on a total amplitude ∼ ± 45° may be useful for applications.