Influence of surface anchoring and viscosity upon the switching behavior of twisted nematic cells

Abstract

Numerical calculations are presented on the dynamics of twisted chiral nematic cells. We are emphasizing the influence of surface effects on the optical switching behavior. Apart from the anchoring strength we have taken into account viscous effects at the surface by constructing a surface dissipation function. The dynamical light transmission curve has been determined for different strengths of the surface anchoring and various viscosity parameters by computer simulation.