Effect of gold nano-particles on switch-on voltage and relaxation frequency of nematic liquid crystal cell

We report the observation of large changes in the electro-optical properties of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) due to inclusion of small concentration of 10 nm diameter gold nanoparticles (GNPs). It is observed that GNPs lower switch-on voltage and also lower the relaxation frequency with applied voltage (AC field) to NLC cell. These studies of GNP doped NLC cell have been done using optical interferometry and capacity measurement by impedance analyzer. The change in threshold voltage and relaxation frequency by doping GNPs in NLC is explained theoretically