INTERMITTENCY AT THE DSM1-DSM2 TRANSITION IN NEMATIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL FILMS

In this letter we report on the turbulence to turbulence transition, w hich occurs in a homogeneously oriented nematic liquid crystal (NLC) f ilm under the action of an external alternate voltage. Our observation show that the transition is characterized by a NLC-substrate anchorin g breaking, which results in the on set of the twist distortion of the molecular director field. We give the characterization of the differe nt dynamic regimes in terms of the probability distribution functions (PDF's) of the director field curvature energy. The PDF's, which are u ndoubtedly non-gaussian, indicate that, in both turbulent regimes, the curvature energy is highly intermittent.