Theoretical modeling of heterogeneous liquid crystal systems: nano-suspensions and polymer-stabilized LC lens

Heterogeneous liquid crystal (LC) systems are a new class of anisotropic materials which have been intensively studied over the last decade. This article is concerned with two such systems: ferroelectric LC nano-suspensions and LCs with polymer network. The significant implication of ferroelectric LC-colloids is the possibility of a significant reduction in the threshold electric Fredericksz voltage. Here we present a theory of this phenomenon, which agrees qualitatively with experiment. A second example of heterogeneous LC systems is a gradient-polymer-stabilized LC (G-PSLC) structure, which has been proposed for a tunable-focus lens application. We report on theoretical model that describes the dependence of the G-PSLC lens focal length on applied voltage. A previous model is improved by considering light absorption during the polymerization. Again we find qualitative agreement with the experimental data