Poisson–Boltzmann equation and electro-convective instability in ferroelectric liquid crystals: a mean-field approach

Abstract

Commercialization of ferroelectric liquid crystal displays (FLCDs) suffers from mechanical and electro-convective instabilities. Impurity ions play a pivotal role in the latter case, and therefore we developed a mean-field type model to understand the complex role of space charges, particularly ions in a ferroelectric liquid crystal. Considering an effective ion-chirality relation, we obtained a modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation for ions dissolved into a chiral solvent like the ferroelectric smectic phase. A nonuniform director profile induced by the mean electrostatic potential of the ions is then calculated by solving an Euler-Lagrange equation for a helically twisted smectic state. A combination of effects resulting from molecular chirality and an electrostatically driven twist created by the ions seems to produce this nonuniform fluctuation in the director orientation. Finally, both theoretical and experimental points of view are presented on the prediction of this mean-field model.