A new threshold flexoelectric instability in nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

We predict a new type of flexoelectric instability in a homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal under a DC electric field. The instability sets in at a critical value of the field applied normal to the undistorted director and in the plane parallel to the bounding plates. It is characterized by a uniform non-planar distortion of the director field involving both polar angles θ and Φ and has a threshold lower than that of the- twist Freedericksz transition.