Light-Induced Thermomechanical Reorientation and Helicity Flipping in Ferroelectric Nematic Phase

Light-Induced Thermomechanical Reorientation and Helicity Flipping in Ferroelectric Nematic Phase | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Light-Induced Thermomechanical Reorientation and Helicity Flipping in Ferroelectric Nematic Phase Tibor Tóth-Katona, István Jánossy, Peter Salamon, Antal Jakli This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6211938/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Director rotation and related domain wall motion induced by laser light absorption have been observed in the ferroelectric nematic (N F ) phase of the archetypal liquid crystal DIO. The observed phenomena strongly depend on the alignment of the ferroelectric polarization on the boundary plates with respect to each other and the direction of the laser light. It is found that laser absorption in the electrodes of the cell plays an essential role in the observed phenomena. The main characteristics of the findings can be explained by a torque acting on the polar director due to a temperature gradient. These experiments provide the first demonstration of a thermomechanical effect that is a property of polar fluids and does not exist in the conventional paraelectric nematic and antiferroelectric phases. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferroelectrics and multiferroics Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials/Liquid crystals Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files LDrivenPSupplementarysubmit.docx Supplementary information LDrivenPSupplAdditionalsubmit.docx Description of Additional Supplementary Files SupplementaryMovie1.mp4 Supplementary Movie 1 SupplementaryMovie2.mp4 Supplementary Movie 2 SupplementaryMovie3.mp4 Supplementary Movie 3 SupplementaryMovie4.mp4 Supplementary Movie 4 SupplementaryMovie5.mp4 Supplementary Movie 5 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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