Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Boundary Vortex Formation In Polarization-Modulated Orthogonal Smectic Liquid Crystals, Carlos J. García-Cervera, Tiziana Giorgi, Sookyung Joo

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

We investigate the relaxation of an energy functional originated in the physics literature to study the bistability of polarization modulated orthogonal smectic phases (SmAP_Fmod) of bent-core molecules liquid crystals. We show that the interplay between the mixed boundary conditions and the shape of the sample results in boundary defects. We also analyze the bistable switching due to an applied electric field via gradient flow numerical simulations. Our computations reveal a novel dynamic scenario, where switching is achieved by the formation of two internal vortices.