On the nature of the orientational effect of ultrasound on nematic liquid crystal

Experimental substantiation of the validity of the model of orientational distortion in a homeotropic layer of nematic liquid crystal under an ultrasonic beam with a sharp boundary is presented for the first time. The model is constructed within the concepts of nonequilibrium thermodynamics and statistical hydrodynamics, taking into account the processes of structural relaxation of the mesophase. It establishes the relationship between the characteristics specifying the homeotropic structure deformation (layer thickness, ultrasound frequency, parameters of the molecular micromodel of liquid crystal, and its material constants) and the layer transparency for a linearly polarized light beam. The calculation results are compared with the experimental data in the frequency range of 0.1–3 MHz.