Field response and switching times in biaxial nematics

We study by means of virtual molecular dynamics computer experiments the response of a bulk biaxial nematic to an applied external field and, in particular, the relative speed of reorientation of the principal director axis and of the secondary one, typical of these new materials, upon a pi/2 field switch. We perform the simulations setting up and integrating the equations of motion for biaxial Gay-Berne particles using quaternions and a suitable time reversible symplectic integrator. We find that switching of the secondary axis is up to an order of magnitude faster than that of the principal axis, and that under fields above a certain strength a reorganization of local domains, temporarily disrupting the nematic and biaxial ordering, rather than a collective concerted reorientation occurs. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.