Liquid crystal director dynamics imaged using two-photon fluorescence microscopy with remote focusing

We introduce a novel imaging technique adopting remote focusing for resolving the axial dynamics in the director field for liquid crystals. The high axial time resolution of our approach is demonstrated by imaging directly the evolution of the director field for an initially splayed nematic layer subject to a sudden voltage pulse. Images of the switching dynamics are presented, revealing transient state director configurations and changes in topology of the liquid crystal layer.