A model for the Pockels effect in distorted liquid crystal blue phases
Soft Condensed Matter
2015-09-15 v1
Abstract
Recent experiments have found that a mechanically distorted blue phase can exhibit a primary linear electro-optic (Pockels) effect [F. Castles \textit{et al}. Nature Mater. \textbf{13}, 817 (2014)]. Here it is shown that flexoelectricity can account for the experimental results and a model, which is based on continuum theory but takes account of the sub-unit-cell structure, is proposed. The model provides a quantitative description of the effect accurate to the nearest order of magnitude and predicts that the Pockels coefficient(s) in an optimally-distorted blue phase may be two orders of magnitude larger than in lithium niobate.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1507.08151,
title = {A model for the Pockels effect in distorted liquid crystal blue phases},
author = {F. Castles},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.08151},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
11 pages, 2 figures. Supplemental Material available from F. Castles on request