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Abstract
Prior to their introduction in the early 1980's, polymeric ferroelectric liquid crystals were thought likely to be a much slower analogue of their low molar mass counterparts. However, side-chain ferroelectric liquid crystal polymers have proved to have extremely interesting and in some cases unexpected properties. These include fast electro-optic switching, high spontaneous polarisation, multiple switching mechanisms, extended electroclinic-like switching, and enhanced second order optically non-linear properties. This paper reviews these novel materials, their physical properties, and some of their applications.