Theoretical investigation into the effects of polar anchoring in antiferroelectric liquid crystal cells

We present a theoretical investigation into the effects of polar anchoring, which induces ferroelectric ordering close to the cell surfaces, in a liquid crystal cell containing an antiferroelectric liquid crystalline material. Our model includes effects due to finite polar and nonpolar anchoring, quadrupolar ordering and polarization self interaction. By minimizing the free energy of the system, we find parameter domains in which multiple zero-voltage solutions are stable. We find that these solutions may undergo thresholdless or hysteretic switching depending on the parameter values. In two instances, the presence of quadrupolar ordering or weak anchoring means that the cell must first be printed into the thresholdless state through a discontinuous transition from an initial antiferroelectric state.