Lowest energy layer structure for twist states SSFLC device

It is generally considered that the symmetric chevron is the lowest energy layer structure. However, we show that for SSFLC devices with a twisted director configuration that an asymmetric layer structure may be preferred. For typical cell parameters, we find that the lowest elastic energy condition is for the apex located at about 1/3 of the cell thickness. In this paper, the effect of cell and material parameters, as well as experimental data will be presented.