relaxation to the helix free haf state and especially the orthoconic haf state it should be appreciated that the application of the high frequency signal also assists in stabilizing the helix free state in a aflc material it is the dielectric torque of the high frequency signal that may be utilized in stabilizing the antiferroelectric af state e g the helix free haf state fig7 depicts the effects of an induced electric field on an aflc cell with the use of example illustrates a e example illustration a depicts a purely surface stabilized orthoconic aflc cell with no electric field present the material shown in illustration a fulfills the long pitch condition e g the helix pitch is large compared to the cell gap d and structure of the aflc is unwound example illustration b depicts a cell in which the long pitch condition is not fulfilled thus the material adopts a helical non surface stabilized configuration the loss of the long pitch condition may be caused by for example temperature changes example illustration c depicts an applied electric field below the cut off frequency which may be in the order of 100 khz for antiphase motion the application of such a field may result in an aflc device with an unwound helix structure due to the torque on the net polarization p net and the tilt plane.