Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Publication Details

Applied Physics Letters

Abstract

We report the observation of a biaxial nematic phase in a bent-core molecular system using polarizing microscopy, electro-optics, and dielectric spectroscopy, where we find that the biaxiality exists on a microscopic scale. An application of electric field induces a macroscopic biaxiality and in consequence gives rise to electro-optic switching. This electro-optic effect shows significant potential in applications for displays due to its fast high-contrast response. The observed electro-optic switching is explained in terms of the interaction of the ferroelectric clusters with the electric field. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

DOI

10.1063/1.3280817


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