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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
Biasing a ferronematic - a new way to detect weak magnetic field
Natália Tomašovičová1, Jozef Kováč1, Yuriy Raikher2
1Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Watsonová 47, 04001, Košice, Slovakia. nhudak@saske.sk.
Abstract:
The magnetic properties of a ferronematic, i.e., a nematic liquid crystal doped with magnetic nanoparticles in low volume concentration are studied, with the focus on the ac magnetic susceptibility. A weak dc bias magnetic field (a few Oe) applied to the ferronematic in its isotropic phase increases the ac magnetic susceptibility considerably. Passage of the isotropic-to-nematic phase transition resets this enhancement irreversibly (unless the dc bias field is applied again in the isotropic phase).
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