Effect of Thickness on the Layer Structure of Grandjean Texture in a Sheared Cholesteric Liquid Crystal

Reflection spectra of the sheared (1.32 × 102sec−1) Grandjean texture of the cholesteric mesophase have been obtained as a function of sample thickness in the visible wavelength region. These studies substantiate a model of the sheared mesophase composed of layers consisting of normal Grandjean, perturbed Grandjean, and dynamic focal conic textures. Changes in sample thickness affect principally the perturbed Grandjean layers. The central dynamic focal conic layer is shown to be relatively thin (<7 μ).