Conductivity Effects on Cut-Off Frequency of Electrohydrodynamic Instability in Nematic Liquids

Conductivity effects on the cut-off frequency fc of the electrohydrodynamic instability were studied, using nematic liquids doped with an organic electrolyte in different concentrations. The values of fc were obtained from the optical observation. It was found that fc is proportional to the conductivity (ρ−1) of the nematic liquids, just as fc = Kρ−1; K = 1.25×1012Ωcm/sec. This relation supports that the space charge is responsible for the electrohydrodynamic instability.