Memory Effect and Structure of Filled Nematic Liquid Crystals

Abstract The irreversible electro-optical response (memory effect) in suspensions of liquid crystals (LCs) and aerosil was investigated. Thereby the influence of the intermolecular interaction in liquid crystals, of the aerosil concentration and its surface treatment and of electric field parameters on the efficiency of the memory effect was studied. The experimental results are discussed in the frame of a model where the filled nematic LC is considered as a system of aerosil agglomerates in a liquid crystal matrix stabilised by elastic forces.