The molecular motion during V-shaped switching in a homogeneously aligned s
mectic C*-like liquid crystal (LC) cell has been investigated by measuring
the effective optical anisotropy Delta n(eff), apparent tilt angle theta(ap
p), switching current: and second harmonic generation and comparing them wi
th the simulated results based on mio extreme models, i.e., random model an
d collective model, where molecules switch randomly and collectively, respe
ctively. The comparison revealed that the collective switching motion of LC
molecules is more reasonable than the random motion. Moreover, it was also
confirmed that the observed infrared absorption anisotropy of the phenyl s
tretching mode due to LC molecular distributions strongly supports the coll
ective model. From these results, it was demonstrated that LC molecules do
not switch randomly but all the LC molecules rotate collectively on a cone
under the driving field.