Second-order flexoelectric effect in chiral nematic liquid crystals

A molecular-statistical model for the second-order flexoelectric effect in chiral nematics is developed, accounting for additional chiral terms in the pair intermolecular potential U(1,2). It is shown by symmetry analysis, that there are four independent chiral terms in the flexoelectric polarization, proportional to the square of director gradients, ℘∼λ∇ n∇n. A molecular-statistical theory is developed for the second-order chiral flexoelectric constants λ. Their values, obtained in the mean-field approximation, depend on molecular dimensions, interaction parameters, and the degree of molecular chirality. Possible experimental situations are discussed where this effect can be observed. © 1993 American Institute of Physics.