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Updated: Aug 26, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Optical Fréedericksz transition in liquid crystals and transfer of the orbital angular momentum of light
Bruno Piccirillo1, Angela Vella, Enrico Santamato
1Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, via Cintia, 80126 Naples, Italy. bruno.piccirillo@na.infn.it
Abstract:
Multistability, out-of-polarization-plane reorientation, and persistent oscillations have been observed in the optical Fréedericks transition in a homeotropically aligned nematic film using a normally incident linearly polarized laser beam with elliptical rather than circular cross section. These features could be ascribed to the presence of an additional optical torque connected with a transfer of the orbital angular momentum of light to the liquid crystal film. A model based on Ritz's variational method confirms this picture.
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