The Transition Mechanism of theTransient Planar to Planar Director Configuration

In cholesteric liquid crystals with a positive dielectric anisotropy, the relaxation from the electric field aligned director configuration to the stable zero field director configuration proceeds via a metastable transient planar director configuration which has a pitch distinct from the equilibrium state. The transition from the transient planar to the equilibrium zero-field state is shown here to occur via a Helfrich-type instability which continuously leads to an in-plane helical structure. The equilibrium planar state is then seen to grow continuously from the in-plane state, leaving behind walls whose length then spontaneously shrinks.