Electrohydrodynamic instabilities in doped M5 nematic liquid crystals

We report the study of the electrodynamic behavior of the nematic mixture M5 doped at several percentages by its reaction precursors 4-(n-Octyloxy)phenol and 4-Heptylbenzoic acid [1]. The influence of the doping impurities on the M5 clearing temperature has been studied by micro differential scanning calorimetry and their conductivities have been determined by impedance analysis as well as their dielectric constants. Finally we studied by polarizing microscopy the influence of the dopants on the voltage threshold for the onset of the orientational instabilities and we determined the cut-off frequency of the low frequency conductive regime.