ORIENTATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF POLY (γ-BENZYL L-GLUTAMATE) IN A CHOLESTERIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE SOLUTION UNDER A DYNAMIC ELECTRIC FIELD NEAR THE NEMATIC TEMPERATURE

We investigate the cholesteric texture of a poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) liquid crystalline solution in 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane as a function of temperature and the strength of alternating electric filed (10 Hz) to see the effects of that field on cholesteric twisting. The solution under no electric field has a nematic temperature, TN, at which the cholesteric pitch diverges with changing the cholesteric sense. We have discovered cholesteric-to-nematic-to-cholesteric changes with no change in the cholesteric sense as the electric voltage is progressively increased at a fixed temperature above TN. Below TN, only the cholesteric-to-nematic change takes place with increasing the voltage.