Current topics in smectic liquid crystal research

Interest in the smectic liquid-crystalline state of matter received a substantial boost with the discovery by Meyer in the mid-1970s that a chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase exhibits a spontaneous elec- tric polarization, and with the subsequent demonstration by Clark and Lagerwall of the surface-stabilized SmC* ferroelectric liquid crystal at the beginning of the 1980s. Since then, chiral smectic phases and their plethora of polar effects have dominat- ed the research in this field, which today has reached a mature state where the first commercial microdisplay applications are
now shipping in millions-per-year quantities. In this Review we discuss some of the topics of highest interest in current smectic liquid crystal research, and address application-relevant research (de Vries-type tilting transitions without defect generation and high-tilt antiferroelectric liquid crystals with perfect dark state) as well as more curiosity-driven research (the nature and origin of the chiral smectic C subphases and their intermediate frustrated states between ferro- and antiferroelectricity).