Ferronematics in confinement
arXiv:1809.02402
Abstract
The behavior of a uniformly magnetized ferronematic slab is investigated numerically in a situation in which an external magnetic field is applied parallel and antiparallel, respectively, to its initial magnetization direction. The employed numerical method allows one to determine hysteresis curves, from which a critical magnetic field strength (i.e., the one at which the ferronematic sample becomes distorted) as function of the system parameters can be inferred. Two possible mechanisms of switching the magnetization by applying a magnetic field in the antiparallel direction are observed and characterized in terms of the coupling constant between the magnetization and the nematic director as well as in terms of the coupling strength of the nematic liquid crystal and the walls of the slab. Suitably prepared walls allow one to combine both switching mechanisms in one setup, such that one can construct a cell the magnetization of which can be reversibly switched off.
References in corpus (5)
- Magneto-optic dynamics in a ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal
- Dynamic magneto-optic coupling in a ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal
- Optical patterning of magnetic domains and defects in ferromagnetic liquid crystal colloids
- Director switching dynamics of ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystals
- Effective Landau theory of ferronematics