Polar flexoelectric in-plane and out-of-plane switching in bent core nematic mixtures

Polar electro-optic response, arising from the coupling between an applied in-plane and out-of-plane dc electric field, respectively, and the flexoelectric polarization of bent core nematic liquid crystal mixtures with hybrid alignment is studied in conventional sandwich cells with homeotropic anchoring at one of the cell substrates and planar at the other. Such a hybrid alignment, however, results in a splay/bend elastic deformation of the nematic giving rise of a flexoelectric polarization. It was found that a pronounced polar electro-optic response, both in-plane and out of plane, took place in the bent core nematic mixtures at very low voltages due to the high flexoelectric polarization in these mixtures, compared with the one observed in calamitic liquid crystals. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.