MECHANICAL VIBRATION OF FREELY SUSPENDED FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTALFILM EXCITED BY SOUND AND ELECTRIC-FIELD

A study of the mechanical vibrations of a freely suspended (FS) ferroe lectric liquid-crystal film has been carried out. Upon excitations by sound irradiation and also by electric-field application, the mechanic al vibration of the FS film of the ferroelectric liquid crystal is eff ectively excited. In the frequency dependence, resonance vibrations ar e observed for both excitations and the resonance frequencies, and lig ht reflection patterns are found to be different for both excitations, suggesting the different oscillating modes of the FS film for both ex citations. In electric-field excitation, the vibration mode, which is consistent with the molecular model of the origin of the vibration due to the reorientation of P-s by P-s . E torque is found. In addition, the application of the FS film of the ferroelectric liquid crystal as sensitive acoustic sensors is proposed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.