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ABSTRACT
Spontaneous or induced chiral symmetry breaking in achiral systems is unusual and understanding the origin of such a phenomenon has been an important area of research for several years. The optically isotropic mesophases exhibited by unconventional liquid crystals are one of the most interesting systems to investigate spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in liquid crystal mesophases formed by achiral moieties. The dark conglomerate (DC) phases are one such optically isotropic family of phases. In this paper, a detailed account of the tendency of bent-core mesogens to form a variety of polar smectic phases, the formation of DC phases due to layers deformations and the general optical, electrical, physical properties of the DC phases are given. An example of a DC phase which exhibit distinct electro-optic properties is described with the nature of dynamics of the response and physical reasons responsible for such behaviour. The challenges and prospects of the DC phases are discussed for their potential applications in novel devices.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Acknowledgement
The work on the OC12-Ph-ODBP-Ph-C5 liquid crystal was carried out during my Research Fellowship at the University of Manchester under the mentorship of Prof. Helen Gleeson. I acknowledge the support of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 for the research fellowship. Thanks to all the collaborators particularly to Prof. Cliff Jones, Dr. V. Görtz, and J. W. Goodby. The Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) are thanked for access to the X-ray facilities.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.