Study of the transient phenomenon during homeotropic to planar transition in cholesteric liquid crystal cells

Abstract

The transient behavior of homeotropic-planar relaxation in surface stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals bounded by parallel substrates has been investigated both experimentally and numerically. By monitoring the evolution of transient transmittance, we observe that the homeotropic-planar relaxation after the electric field is switched off occurs via a transient planar state. The effect of bias waveform on the relaxation process is also studied. On the basis of this knowledge, we design a driving waveform to reduce the relaxation time.