Nanoparticles induced multiferroicity in liquid crystal

Soft multiferroic character has been observed in a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) dispersed with nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs). A suitable amount of ferromagnetic Ni NPs has been added into FLC material, and the co-existence of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic ordering is examined using P-E and M-H hysteresis measurements. The magnitude of ferromagnetic order is found to depend strongly on the concentration of Ni NPs. Our theoretical approach indicated a strong dependence of helical pitch of FLC on the doping concentration of Ni NPs. We proposed that the intrinsic magnetic field of Ni NPs has been coupled with that of director field of the FLC molecules to result in the observed multiferroic behavior.