Layer modulated smectic-C phase in liquid crystals with a terminal hydroxyl group

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2014 Apr;89(4):042503. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.89.042503. Epub 2014 Apr 17.

Abstract

We investigated local layer structures of the three smectic-C phases (SmC, SmC', and SmC″) in a liquid crystal with the terminal hydroxyl group using high resolution and microbeam x-ray diffraction. It is found that SmC is the conventional SmC1 phase and SmC″ is the bilayer SmC2 phase. The SmC' phase forms an in-plane modulation structure, so that this phase is the smectic-C antiphase. From the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, it is suggested that the intermolecular hydrogen bonding is important to induce the SmC' and SmC″ phases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't