Abstract
A layer of nematic liquid crystal that has undergone an electrohydrodynamic instability (and contains nonequilibrium structures with period ) is subjected to a spatially periodic electric field with periodicity . The competition between these two length scales is found to result in novel ordered phases similar to those found in equilibrium condensed-matter systems. A simple model is proposed that accounts for most of the observations.
- Received 21 June 1983
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.786
©1983 American Physical Society