THEORETICAL-STUDIES OF THE INFLUENCE OF BACKFLOW ON THE DYNAMICAL BEHAVIOR OF A FREDERICKS TRANSITION OF A FERROELECTRIC SMECTIC C-ASTERISKLIQUID-CRYSTAL IN THE BOOKSHELF GEOMETRY

The elastic hydrodynamic theory for the ferroelectric smectic C phase is reviewed and the governing equations for the dynamical behaviour o f a surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystalline cell are writt en down, taking the possibility of macroscopic mass flow in the system into account. The influence of backflow effects on the dynamical cell behaviour and a control parameter, determining whether backflow effec ts will be of importance or not, is derived. It is shown that when bac kflow effects are pronounced, the response time of the switching can b e considerably decreased. Also, the shape of the c-director and veloci ty-profiles across the cell are shown to be strongly dependent on the presence of backflow.