Unstable states of antiferroelectric liquid crystal devices

The unstable states of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal cell have been i nvestigated, mapping out the unstable branch of the hysteresis loop. It was found that the unstable branch extended over a much greater voltage range than the quasistatic hysteresis loop of the cell. The narrow hysteresis loo p is attributed to the influence of defects within the cell, which can seed switching in the presence of a small energy barrier between initial and fi nal states. The measurements indicate that the ferroelectric state may be f undamentally stable at 0 V. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)01011-2].