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Updated: Feb 25, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Bulk chirality effect for symmetric bistable switching of liquid crystals on topologically self-patterned degenerate
Abstract:
We demonstrate a bistable switching liquid crystal (LC) mode utilizing a topologically self-structured dual-groove surface for degenerated easy axes of LC anchoring. In our study, the effect of the bulk elastic distortion of the LC directors on the bistable anchoring surface is theoretically analyzed for balanced bistable states based on a free energy diagram. By adjusting bulk LC chirality, we developed ideally symmetric and stable bistable anchoring and switching properties, which can be driven by a low in-plane pulsed field of about 0.7 V/µm. The fabricated device has a contrast ratio of 196:1.
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