Xiang, Ying and Goodby, J. W. and Goertz, V. and Gleeson, H. F. (2009) Revealing the uniaxial to biaxial nematic liquid crystal phase transition via distinctive electroconvection. Applied Physics Letters, 94 (19): 193507. ISSN 0003-6951
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Electroconvection (EC) phenomena are reported in the uniaxial and biaxial nematic phases of a bent-core liquid crystal. Two EC instabilities are observed. Prewavy_1, which exists only in the uniaxial phase, has stripes parallel to the rubbing direction, a periodicity of order of the device thickness, and an onset voltage that diverges near the uniaxial to biaxial transition. The prewavy_2 instability, characterized by stripes perpendicular to the rubbing direction and a periodicity of twice the device thickness, exists across the entire nematic regime. Our observations are explained through changes in the electrical conductivity anisotropy at the uniaxial to biaxial transition.