Collective and non-collective molecular dynamics in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy

Aitor Erkoreka; Alenka Mertelj; Mingjun Huang; Satoshi Aya; Nerea Sebastián; Josu Martinez-Perdiguero

doi:10.1063/5.0173813

Collective and non-collective molecular dynamics in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy

J Chem Phys. 2023 Nov 14;159(18):184502. doi: 10.1063/5.0173813.

Authors

Aitor Erkoreka¹, Alenka Mertelj², Mingjun Huang^{3

4}, Satoshi Aya^{3

4}, Nerea Sebastián², Josu Martinez-Perdiguero¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain.
² Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
³ South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology (AISMST), School of Molecular Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional and Intelligent Hybrid Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.

PMID: 37947513
DOI: 10.1063/5.0173813

Abstract

A great deal of effort has been recently devoted to the study of dielectric relaxation processes in ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals, yet their interpretation remains unclear. In this work, we present the results of broadband dielectric spectroscopy experiments of a prototypical ferroelectric nematogen in the frequency range 10 Hz-110 MHz at different electrode separations and under the application of DC bias fields. The results evidence a complex behavior in all phases due to the magnitude of polar correlations in these systems. The observed modes have been assigned to different relaxation mechanisms based on existing theoretical frameworks.