Electric field effects in freely suspended liquid crystalline (FSLC) films of 5CB

Electric field effects on FSLC films of p-pentyl cyano biphenyl (5CB) have been optically studied. Due to the initial alignment of the molecules, initially formed transition layers grow with increasing field and merge to form a linear wall at the middle of the sample. This linear wall splits into two disclinations at relatively high fields. But a sudden application of relatively high electric field results in the formation of closed metastable walls. The wall orientation shows interesting behaviour with the field frequency. At high field, the closed walls undergo distortion and division into two or more parts.