Effect in polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films

The article is devoted to an experimental study of the electromechanical memory effect that occurs in polymer-dispersed nematic liquid crystal films. The memory effect is observed in the hysteretic behavior of the capacitance of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal systems depending on different values of the bias voltage applied to them. As part of the study, we have carried out the capacitance-voltage measurements on a setup manufactured in Nanosystems Laboratory of BSU and operating on the principle of an AC bridge circuit. It is shown that there is a positive capacitance shift after capacitance-voltage measurements in a polymer-dispersed film, which is essentially a porous structure, even in the absence of an external electric field. This shift is due to the memory effect. The results of microscopy of liquid crystal capsules in a polymer matrix indicate that micropores are connected to each other in the polymer matrix. It is the porosity structure that is inherent in liquid crystal systems in which the memory effect manifests itself.