Twist deformation in anticlinic antiferroelectric structure in smectic B₂ imposed by the surface anchoring

Abstract

A simplified model is used to estimate the energies of observed structures in the smectic B₂ phase composed of bent‐shaped molecules. An approximate twist solution connecting anticlinic antiferroelectric structure in the sample bulk with synclinic ferroelectric order induced at the sample surfaces by anchoring is proposed and the elastic and anchoring energies of this structure are determined. It is shown that uniform, twisted and partly twisted (mixed) anticlinic antiferroelectric structures can coexist with nearly the same energies.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by grant No. 202/05/0431 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.