Dynamics of Helfrich-Hurault deformations in smectic-A liquid crystals.

A dynamics of the Helfrich-Hurault deformations in the SmA sample in the case of a rigid homeotropic anchoring has been theoretically investigated. It has been found that, unlike the Freedericksz transition, in the nematic liquid crystals, both the switching-on and switching-off characteristic times for this phenomenon are linearly proportional to the SmA sample thickness, and the switching-off process is much faster than the switching-on one.