Dielectric investigations of a chiral monomer and side chain polymer

in Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals (2000), 352

The dynamics of different collective and non-collective modes in a chiral liquid crystalline monomer and its side-chain polymer have been studied by dielectric spectroscopy. The monomer system enabled us ... [more ▼]

The dynamics of different collective and non-collective modes in a chiral liquid crystalline monomer and its side-chain polymer have been studied by dielectric spectroscopy. The monomer system enabled us to study the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity when crossing the transition from the SmA* phase directly to the crystal phase. Although the polymer system has a SmA* to SmC* transition, we found that the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity is radically different from the normally observed behaviour in these phases. The contributions from the soft and Goldstone modes, respectively, are extremely low, a result which is related to the very low value of the spontaneous polarization of the material. At lower temperatures in the SmC* phase, a very weak dielectric absorption located around 50 kHz is observed and discussed in terms of the liberational motion of side chains around the polymer main chain. [less ▲]

The case of thresholdless antiferroelectricity: Polarization-stabilized twisted SmC* liquid crystals give V-shaped electro-optic response

in Journal of Materials Chemistry (1999), 9(6), 1257-1261

We have studied the three-component liquid crystal mixture reported to exhibit ‘thresholdless antiferroelectricity’ [Inui et al., J. Mater. Chem, 1996, 6, 671]. We find that the thresholdless or V-shaped ... [more ▼]

We have studied the three-component liquid crystal mixture reported to exhibit ‘thresholdless antiferroelectricity’ [Inui et al., J. Mater. Chem, 1996, 6, 671]. We find that the thresholdless or V-shaped switching is obtained in thf absence of antiferroelectricity. This analog electro-optic response is due to the field-induced switching of a twisted smectic C* structure stabilized by polar surface interactions and by electrostatic bulk polarization charge interactions. The latter confine the director twist to thin surface regions leaving the bulk of the cell uniform, which gives good extinction at zero field. In sufficiently thin cells, such thresholdless switching can in fact be followed down to much lower temperatures, where the bulk would be antiferroelectric, but is maintained in the cells in the ferroelectric state by hysteresis from surface action. [less ▲]