Anchoring energy and cell gap effects on liquid crystal response time

The anchoring energy and cell gap effects on liquid crystal response time (τ0) is analyzed theoretically and validated experimentally. Analytical expressions are derived using two different approaches: effective cell gap and surface dynamic equation methods. Consistent results are deduced from these two approaches. A simplified equation τ0∼dx also fits the experimental data well, where d is the liquid crystal cell gap and x is the exponent. Under two extreme (strong and weak) anchoring limits, the exponent x approaches 2 and 1, respectively. This information is helpful for optimizing liquid crystal devices for display applications.