Theory and Modelling of Liquid Crystals and Electric Fields
A copy of the transparencies is available here in pdf format.
The Maple file that I used during the lectures is available here. If you do not have access to Maple there is a transcript of the file in MS Word format here and a HTML version here.
I have set a couple of questions for you to consider (see below). The second question requires Maple but if you have access to an alternative maths algebra program such as Mathematica, Mathcad etc. you can reproduce the Maple file and attempt the question.
Question 1: Derive the critical magnetic field strength for switching in a Twisted Nematic cell,
H2=p2(K1+(K3-2K2)/4)/(cad2)
Question 2: In the "FLC model" section of the Maple file use a Heaviside function to define a voltage pulse function of strength V_pulse and length t_pulse. Solve the dynamic equation setting V equal to the voltage pulse function. For a fixed pulse strength, V_pulse=-1 say, how does altering the pulse length, t_pulse, affect the switching characteristics. Try pulse lengths of t_pulse=10-6, 10-5, 10-4 seconds.