Equilibrium distributions of electric field in a cell with adsorbed charge at the surfaces.

The asymmetry in the electric field distribution that results when an applied field is combined with the intrinsic field in the diffuse charge layer has been cited as a possible cause of the dc switching effect observed in liquid crystal displays based on bistable boundary layer configurations. Since the ratio of Debye screening length L(D) to cell depth d is an important parameter, it is useful to solve for the static equilibrium field distribution under constant voltage in a finite cell where L(D)/d is not necessarily small, and results for a semi- infinite medium have questionable applicability. This problem is solved here.