Asymmetric Freedericksz transitions from symmetric liquid crystal cells doped with harvested ferroelectric nanoparticles

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Abstract
The electrical Freedericksz transition characteristics of planar aligned liquid crystal cells doped with harvested single ferroelectric domain 9 nm nanoparticles of BaTiO3 have been measured. We demonstrate for the first time that the electrical pre-history of the cells imparts significant polarity sensitivity to the Freedericksz characteristics. The presence of harvested single domain ferroelectric nanoparticles enables cells to be programmably semi-permanently polarized. This reduces or increases the Freedericksz transition threshold by 0.8 V, depending on the polarity of the applied voltage, giving a net 1.6 V Freedericksz threshold asymmetry for 8 μm thick cells filled with TL205 liquid crystal.