Optical transmission decay dynamics in dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal cells

We have experimentally studied the $S$-effect dynamics in a dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell. It is demonstrated that the optical transmission rise and decay times depend on the mode of control over the NLC director orientation in an applied electric field, including the rectangular (square-wave) dc voltage pulses and sinusoidal low-and high-frequency addressing schemes. It is established that the presence of a thin dielectric layer of amorphous hydrogenated carbon ($a$-C:H) at the NLC boundary can decrease by an order of magnitude the transmission decay time under the action of a high-frequency voltage as compared to the case of natural elastic relaxation in a cell where only the rise time is controlled.