Topology and Bistability in liquid crystal devices

DOI10.1103/PHYSREVE.75.051703arXivmath-ph/0611016WikidataQ50943183 ScholiaQ50943183MaRDI QIDQ6469823FDOQ6469823

Authors: A. Majumdar, Christopher J. P. Newton, J. M. Robbins, M. Zyskin 

Publication date: 8 November 2006

Abstract: We study nematic liquid crystal configurations in a prototype bistable device - the Post Aligned Bistable Nematic (PABN) cell. Working within the Oseen-Frank continuum model, we describe the liquid crystal configuration by a unit-vector field, in a model version of the PABN cell. Firstly, we identify four distinct topologies in this geometry. We explicitly construct trial configurations with these topologies which are used as initial conditions for a numerical solver, based on the finite-element method. The morphologies and energetics of the corresponding numerical solutions qualitatively agree with experimental observations and suggest a topological mechanism for bistability in the PABN cell geometry.

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