Light-Induced Gliding of the Easy Orientation Axis of a Dye-Doped Nematic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

We studied the effect of light-induced gliding of the easy axis of dye-doped nematic liquid crystal on an aligning polymer surface. The observed drift of the easy axis is over tens of degrees and is caused by light-induced anisotropic adsorption and/or desorption of dye molecules on or from the aligning layer in the presence of light-induced bulk torque. We present a theoretical model that explains the experimental data in terms of the light-induced changes of the adsorbed dye molecules angular distribution due to their exchange with the dye molecules from the liquid crystal bulk.