Asymmetric switching in a ferrielectric liquid crystal device

Abstract

The fast multistate switching associated with ferroelectric and antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystals makes them important materials for electro-optic devices, and asymmetric electro-optic responses are of particular interest for some analog switching applications. We report intrinsic asymmetric switching in a ferrielectric liquid crystal device observed using time-resolved small angle x-ray scattering and electro-optic measurements. The experiments reveal a marked variation in the response time depending on field polarity not present in the ferroelectric or antiferroelectric phase. We suggest that this is a consequence of the ferrielectric structure itself and interactions with the device surfaces.