Dielectrowetting of nematic liquid crystal films

We consider a mathematical model that describes the flow of a Nematic Liquid Crystal (NLC) film placed on a surface that contains interlaced electrodes (which generate an electric field that varies in the plane of the substrate). We assume that the NLC film is thin relative to the inter-electrode spacing. Under the usual long-wave scaling, a partial differential equation that describes the time evolution of the thin film is obtained. Due to the dielectric nature of NLC molecules, this equation is coupled to a boundary value problem that describes the interaction between the nematic director and the electric field potential. After validating our fully nonlinear simulations by linear stability analysis, we discuss the influence of an applied electric field on the stability of the NLC film.