Surface polarity of a ferroelectric nematic can be configured to generate vectorial control of the orientation of its bulk polarization field. The contact between a surface with in-plane polarity and a ferroelectric nematic
liquid crystal generates preferred in-
plane orientation of the ferroelectric polarization field at that interface, which can lead to the formation of fluid or glassy monodomains of high polarization without
electric field poling. Materials surfaces can be used as a
route to making planar-aligned cells with a variety of azimuthal director / polarization structures, including twisted states, in a π-twist
cell, obtained with antiparallel, unidirectional buffing on opposing surfaces, we demonstrate three distinct
modes of ferroelectric nematic electro-optic response:
intrinsic viscosity-limited field induced molecular reorientation, field-induced motion of domain walls separating twisted states of opposite
chirality; and propagation of polarization reorientation solitons from the
cell plates to the
cell center upon field reversal.