Switching behavior of surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals induced by pulse voltages

The switching behavior of surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals has been studied using a simple uniform switching model in an applied electric field. We measured the response time as a function of pulse voltage for a ferroelectric liquid crystal material with a negative dielectric anisotropy, which shows a minimum in the response time-voltage curve, and found good agreement between the theory and the experimental results. Accordingly, the parameters appearing in the switching model, the initial azimuthal angle, rotational viscosity, and surface anchoring energy can be determined.