Transient discharging processes in nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

Measurements of discharging current transients in pentyl cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals have been made at various applied voltages and temperatures. A well-characterized peak in the discharging transient is observed in both nematic and isotropic phase. A computer simulation based upon a random-walk method has been also carried out in order to explore the origin of such an anomalous peak. It is concluded that the occurrence of the anomalous peak is ascribed to a relaxation of an applied-electric-field-induced nonuniform distribution of space charges due to impurity ions incorporated in the liquid crystals.