The dielectric characterization of a material without layer shrinkage

Abstract

The shrinking of smectic layers that occurs in the smectic C* phase in most compounds due to the tilt of the molecules creates undesired chevron structures from initially bookshelf layers. The chevrons deteriorate the quality of electrooptic devices based on surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals. However, some rare material classes seem to exhibit practically no decrease in the layer thickness at the Sm A* Sm C* transition and below. One such example is found in some naphtalene based substances. In the present work, we show that such materials exhibit a dielectric behavior manifestly different from that of materials which show a decrease in the layer thickness.

Key Words:

• Ferroelectric liquid crystals
• bookshelf structure
• naphthalene based compounds
• dielectric spectroscopy