Structure and dynamics of ferroelectric liquid crystal cells exhibiting thresholdless switching

Surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal cells are usually bistable, with the spontaneous polarization either up or down, perpendicular to the plane of the cell. In materials with high spontaneous polarization the polarization charge self-interaction leads to a monostable structure that exhibits a thresholdless, "V-shaped" switching of the optical response to an applied voltage. With a model that includes the electrostatic self-energy of the spontaneous polarization, we examine the transition from bistablity to monostability as a function of the polar and nonpolar anchoring energies, the liquid crystal elasticity, and the thickness of the alignment layers. Two bistable and one monostable structures are possible. The bistable state is only obtained when the thickness of the insulating alignment layer and the polar anchoring energy are small, or when the spontaneous polarization is small. From linear stability analysis we get analytical expressions for the limits of stability of the structures. Numerical calculations show that in some ranges of the parameters two structures can coexist. We also present the calculation of the polarization fluctuation modes. The lowest one becomes soft at the continuous transitions among the structures and at the limits of stability.