Ferroelectric nematics: materials with high permittivity or low resistivity?

Abstract

Two models have recently been proposed to describe dielectric spectroscopy measurements of ferroelectric nematics (NF) in thin planar capacitors. The polarisation-external capacitance Goldstone reorientation mode (PCG model) considers the NF layer between the electrodes as an effective low resistivity material; the resistivity is inversely proportional to the square of polarisation magnitude. The ‘high-ε’ model considers the NF material as having a huge permittivity due to the ease of polarisation rotation. We study implications of both models and show, why both models describe the majority of the observed dielectric spectroscopy results equally well. We point out differences among the models’ predictions and explain why some observations can be explained only by the high- (Formula presented.) model. The high- (Formula presented.) model predicts that the frequency range within which capacitors filled with NF material effectively store energy can be increased by using thicker cells, while within the PCG model this frequency range reduces with increasing capacitor thickness. Within both models, a crucial parameter that determines the behaviour of the capacitors filled with an NF material is parasitic resistance, primarily due to the electrode resistance. We present measurements of electrode resistance and find that in ITO cells it is of the order of few hundred ohms.