The observation of macroscopic collective behavior in a nematic liquid crystal doped with magnetic grains is reported. This behavior is manifested as a uniform molecular orientational distortion of the entire matrix upon the application of external magnetic fields as low as <1 G. The dependence of the distortion on field strength, dopant concentration, and sample thickness is presented, and a theory which quantitatively accounts for the results is given. At high field intensities, the doped nematic exhibits a heretofore unreported texture of complex cellular topology.

• Received 4 October 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.2298