Dielectric studies of different phases of a thin-layered ferroelectric liquid crystal with a small pitch and high spontaneous polarization

Dielectric spectroscopy of a ferroelectric liquid crystal with planar texture in the frequency range 100 Hz to 1 MHz has been carried out as a function of temperature from 25°C to 60°C at different DC fields varying from 0 to 12 kVcm^-1. From the measured dielectric strengths and relaxation frequencies, it is observed that the material has a S_c*-S_A* transition at 56·1°C and a S_A*-I transition at 58°C. The data of the S_c* phase have been assigned to the Goldstone mode. The rotational viscosity and elastic constant have been calculated from the observed data. The capacitance shows an abrupt drop at the critical DC field where unwinding of the helix occurs. The measured value of the critical field decreases with temperature and agrees to literature data from electrooptical experiments. On applying a DC field greater than 6·5 kV cm^-1 at room temperature, the liquid crystal shows the unwound S_c* and S_A* phases.     

Circular dichroism in ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals

Liquid crystal induced circular dichroism (LCICD) measurements were made to investigate the pretransitional phenomena in the S_A phase just above the S_A-S*_C and S_A-S*_CA phase transitions of both the first and the second order. The pretransitional LCICD in S_A was observed in the second order phase transition to S*_c and S*_cA, suggesting the existence of a dynamic helical structure in S_A. Such behaviour disappears when the transition is of the first order. It seems that the handedness of the dynamic helix in S_A is the same as that in S*_c even when the lower temperature phase is S*_cA. This is explained as a result of a dominant contribution of ferroelectric soft mode.     

Binary mass diffusion in smectic C and CA phases as observed by forced Rayleigh scattering

We have observed the diffusion constants of a dye in several liquid crystals by forced Rayleigh scattering. In a liquid crystal which has a standard phase sequence of N-S_A-S_C, the diffusion anisotropy changes at the N-S_A phase transition and increases with decreasing temperature in S_A and S_C phases. The diffusion constants exhibit a rather smooth decrease with decreasing temperature except an anomaly at the S_A-S_c phase transition. In a liquid crystal which has the antiferroelectric S_CA phase, however, the diffusion constants show discontinuous increase and decrease at the S_A-S_c and the S_c-S_cA phase transition temperatures, respectively: the diffusion constant in S_C is larger than that in the higher temperature S_A phase. Anomalous signal increase and profile were observed at the phase transition temperatures, and were ascribed to the complementary transient grating due to the coexistence of two phases.     

Low and high frequency dielectric spectroscopy on a liquid crystal with the phase sequence N*-SA-S*c

Broadband dielectric measurements on a multicomponent ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture have been performed. The alignment was homeotropic and the cell and sample holder were the same in the whole frequency range. Two relaxation processes have been observed in all liquid crystal phases with shapes given by the Havriliak-Negami and inverted Havriliak-Negami functions. Strengths and frequencies of both modes have been obtained for the different phases. The values of the latter and their activation energies allowed us to assign the low and high frequency mechanism to the molecular reorientation around the transversal axis and around the longitudinal axis, respectively. The behaviour of this high frequency mode does not show any jump in the S_A-S*_c phase transition, neither in the amplitude nor in the frequency, indicating that the appearance of the spontaneous polarization in the S*_c phase is not the consequence of the freezing of this mode.     

The characteristic dielectric behaviour in ferroelectric liquid crystals at a phase transition and the contribution of the soft mode

The characteristic dielectric behaviour of ferroelectric liquid crystals with a large spontaneous polarization has been studied as functions of the D.C. bias field, frequency, cell thickness and applied pressure. Under the condition in which the contribution of the Goldstone mode is suppressed, a sharp peak in the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant is clearly observed at the transition between S_A and S*_C phases T_SC*sA. The relaxation of the soft mode is observed both in the S_A and S*_C phases by eliminating the contribution of the Goldstone mode under a D.C. bias field. Another relaxation is also observed in the S*_C phase around several kHz in addition to that of the soft mode and the Goldstone mode. The pressure effect on the soft mode was also studied.     

Electroclinic effects in a homogeneously aligned smectic A cell

The electroclinic effect, in a material having a first order S_A to S_C* transition, is studied using the half leaky guided mode geometry. Using an approximately 1 μm thick, homogeneously aligned cell, the voltage induced director twist is characterized at a few temperatures in the S_A phase. The mean field theory readily explains the data recorded at low fields where a linear dependence on voltage is found. However, at higher fields, an unexpected saturation occurs which is most likely caused by the influence of strong surface anchoring forces.     

Novel liquid crystalline structures of a chiral side chain polymer and its phase transitions

Two novel smectic bilayer structures have been identified in an enantiomerically enriched chiral side chain polymer containing the highly dipolar nitrile group at stereocentres. The structures were characterized by electron diffraction, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. In both phases each smectic layer has a bilayer structure with backbones and spacers confined in a thin disordered region between two sublayers of mesogenic segments. One of the structures which we denote as CrE* has the unusual feature of having its side chains arranged parallel to the layer normal in spite of its enantiomeric bias and twisted nature. In the second structure side chains are tilted by 34.8° with respect to the layer normal and we denote this phase as CrH*_c In both structures each sublayer contains three different orientations of orthorhombic (CrE) or monoclinic (CrH*_c) lattices which are related to one another by rotations of ± 60° about the c-axis. In both the CrH*_c and the CrE* phases, lattices in each sublayer are regularly rotated about the c-axis by 5.9° relative to those in the adjacent sublayer. The observation of a chiral CrH phase is uncommon and in this specific case the structure is unique since the rotation between adjacent layers occurs about the sidechain axis (c-axis) (CrH*_c) and not about the layer normal (c-axis) (CrH*_c). We believe the system undergoes a change in molecular organization from CrH*_c to CrE* as a result of a chemical reaction which joins a fraction of the stereocentres through covalent bonds. With increasing temperature the CrE* structure was found to transform to a special orthorhombic untwisted smectic phase in which a = 31/2b, denoted here as CrE_h. The structure then transforms to a hexatic S_B phase and finally to a S_A phase at yet higher temperatures.     

Experimental observation of multicritical points with TGB phases on a pure compound

High pressure studies for the n = 12 homologues of the 3-fluoro-4((R) or (S)-methylheptyloxy)-4'-(4-alkyloxy-3-fluorobenzoyloxy) tolanes series have been performed by thermobarometric analysis. The phase sequence presents two Twist Grain Boundary phases denoted TGB_A and TGB_C. The pressure-temperature phase diagram has been determined; it exhibits a S_C* phase, and an induced phase identified as S_A which does not exist under atmospheric pressure. The TGB_A temperature stability domain versus pressure first increases, then rises to a maximum and finally disappears. Such phase behaviour leads to an experimental observation of two multicritical points S_C*-S_A-TGB_A and S_A-TGB_A-N* for the pure compound under high pressures. This result confirms the existence of singular points previously predicted by the Renn-Lubensky theory.     

Synthesis and mesomorphic properties of 6-n-decyloxy-2-[4'-N-alkoxyphenylimino)methyl]quinolines (IV)

The synthesis and mesomorphic properties of a new series of liquid crystals derived from quinoline with an imine central bond is described. All compounds exhibit mesophase ranges greater than 50°C. The lower homologues (n = 4-6) show trimorphism S_c-S_a-N (for n = 4, the S_c phase is monotropic). The higher homologues (n = 7-10) show nematic and smectic C phases. Compared to the styrylquinoline analogues the imine bond gives rise to similar liquid crystal phase ranges but lower melting points.     

Field dependent switching angle of a columnar pyrene

The switching behaviour of 1,3,6,8-tetrakis-((S)-2-(heptyloxy)propanoyloxy)pyrene was studied near room temperature in a monotropic columnar phase. The switching angle (optical tilt angle) increases linearly with the applied electric field from 0° to c. ± 10° at ± 0.35°/(V μm ^-1), then rapidly increases to its upper limit of 22°. The electric polarization is roughly proportional to the switching angle with a maximum value of 110nC cm^-2 at high field strengths. At field strengths up to 10 V μm^-1, a voltage and temperature independent 0 to 90 per cent switching time of c. 650 μs was measured. The observations are explained in terms of deformation and unwinding of an intracolumnar helix.     

Liquid crystalline phase transitions for 4,4'”-dialkyloxyquaterphenyl homologues

The liquid crystalline phase transitions of a homologous series of 4,4'”-dialkyloxyquaterphenyls (DAQP) have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy. The DAQP homologues, for which the number of carbon atoms in the alkyloxy group (n) is 5-9, show a S_A phase, while the higher homologues (n = 9-12, 18) show a S_c phase.     

Microscopic organization of molecules in smectic A and chiral (racemic) smectic C phases: Dynamic molecular deformation effect on the SA to SC* (SC) transition

We investigated the correlation between orientational order and microscopic organization of the molecules in smectic A and chiral (racemic) smectic C phases by means of solid-state C-13 NMR, powder X-ray diffraction, and electrooptical measurements. The compounds under investigation are 4-((S)-2-methyloctanoyl)phenyl 4'-nonylbiphenyl-4-carboxylate ((S)-MONBIC) and its corresponding racemic compound ((S, R)-MONBIC). Static C-13 NMR indicates that: (1) the orientational angle of the tail with respect to the magnetic field decreases slightly both in the S_A and S*_C phases as decreasing temperature, and (2) the angle of the core with respect to the field decreases in the S_A phase but increases in the S*_C phase as decreasing temperature. Analysis of C-13 T₁ reveals that the dynamic molecular deformation for the core part can occur near the transition. We discuss the dynamic molecular deformation in comparison with the reorientation of the director at the S_A to S*_C transition. Based on the experimental results, we propose the structural model in which describes the microscopic organization of the molecules in the mesophases.     

Photomechanically induced ferroelectricity in smectic liquid crystals

We report new photomechanical effects in the ferroelectric liquid crystal SCE13 doped with a photoisomerizing guest azo dye. Low concentrations of dye (∼5 per cent wt:wt) are shown to cause an isothermal, reversible disruption of smectic phases when the system is illuminated with low power density (∼ 1 mW cm^-2) UV light. In the case of a sample initially in the S*_c phase, this results in a fall in the magnitude of spontaneous electrical polarization (P_s) and changes in electro-optic switching characteristics. If the sample is illuminated in the S_A phase, the electroclinic switching decreases. In contrast to this, when systems containing higher concentrations of dye (≥ 10 per cent wt: wt) are UV illuminated in the S_A phase, a reversible, isothermal transition to a biphasic S*_c/isotropic state occurs. In this case, the P_s is seen to rise from zero in the S_A phase to a finite value(∼2 nC cm^-2) in the biphasic mixture and hysteresis occurs in the electro-optic switching. When these higher dye concentration mixtures are held initially in the S*_c phase and UV illuminated, a more complicated variation of P_s occurs with the sample again undergoing a transition to a biphasic S*_c/isotropic state. Possible mechanisms for the transition are discussed.     

TGBA phase in a series of propionates containing two stereocenters

A homologous series of chiral materials, (R)-2-pentyl (S)-2-(6-(4-(4'-alkoxyphenyl)benzoyloxy)-2-naphthyl)propionates (R,S)PmPBNP (m = 7-14), derived from a naphthalene ring as part of the core structure in conjunction with a chiral tail containing two stereocentres has been synthesized for the investigation. The twist grain boundary smectic A (TGB_A) and smectic C (TGB*_C) phases were characterized by the microscopic textures of compounds packed in two untreated glass slides, Cano wedge cell, or homogeneously aligned cell. It was found that the occurrence of these phases depend remarkably on the nature of alkyl chain length m; in the case of shorter alkyl chain length (m = 7-10), the TGB_A phase behaves as a metastable-like phase mediated between N and S_A phases in a short temperature range, whereas in the longer chain length (m' 11-14), both the TGB_A and TGB_C phases become thermodynamically stable phases with a wide temperature range. Consequently, this series of chiral materials resulted in two different mesophase sequences: N-TGB_A-S_A-S_Cand N-TGB_A-TGB_C. A kind of parquet texture displaying two types of domain with different relative directions of the smectic layer normal was found in the S phase from the materials (m = 9-14) packed in 2 μm homogeneously aligned cells and cooled down from the isotropic liquid without applying an electric field. The magnitudes of spontaneous polarization (P_s) in the S_C and TGB_C phases showed that the P_s values are nearly the same for all compounds at the same temperature below the Curie point. Dielectric measurements revealed no significant occurrence of soft mode switching in the TGB_A phase.     

Structural, spectral and thermal properties of a polymeric nickel(II) complex containing two-dimensional network

The structure of the complex [Ni(hmt)(NCS)₂(H₂O)₂]_n, assembled by hexamethylenetetramine (hmt) and octahedral Ni(II), is reported. Crystal data: Fw 351.07, a=9.885(10) Å, b=12.06(1) Å, c=12.505(8) Å, β=114.41(4)°, V=1357(1) ų, Z=4, space group=C2/c, T=173 K, λ(Mo−K)=0.71070 Å, ρ_calc=1.718 gcm⁻¹, μ=17.44 cm⁻¹, R=0.099, Rw=0.145. The tetrahedral assembling template effect of the hmt molecule is completed by two coordination bonds and two hydrogen interactions. The UV–vis absorption spectrum of this complex [Ni(hmt)(NCS)₂(H₂O)₂]_n with a two-dimensional network is determined in the range of 5000–35000 cm⁻¹ at room temperature. The observed spectrum is discussed and explained perfectly by the scaling radial theory proposed by us. The two-dimensional structure has no apparent effects on the d–d transitions of the central Ni(II) ion. The IR spectrum and the GT curve of the complex were also measured and clearly reflect its structural properties.     

X-ray diffraction, Raman study and electrical properties of the new mixed compound [Rb0.44(NH4)0.56]2HgCl4 · H2O

Differential scanning calorimetry of [Rb_0.44(NH₄)_0.56]₂HgCl₄ · H₂O material showed three anomalies at 340, 355 and 424 K, respectively. The room temperature phase has space group Pcma (a=8.433(1) Å, b=9.1817(9) Å and c=11.954(1)). Phase II (T=350 K) is disordered and exhibits orthorhombic symmetry (a=8.456(13), b=9.202(9) and c=12.011(10) Å). Hydrogen bonding, the nature and the degree of structure (dis)order and the mechanisms of the transitions are discussed. The dielectric constant ^′ at different frequencies and temperature revealed a phase transition at T=340 K related to NH₄⁺ reorientation and H⁺ diffusion, and a characteristic increase above 355 K, which might be due to loss of water of crystallization. Transport properties in this compound appear to be due to an Rb⁺/NH₄⁺ and H⁺ ions hopping mechanism.     

A new mean field SA-SA' critical point in a symmetry breaking field

We consider a S_A-S_A' critical point in the presence of a symmetry-breaking external magnetic (electric) field with a positive magnetic (dielectric) anisotropy or a dislocation layer. Via a renormalization group analysis of the model hamiltonian, we show that the upper critical dimensions below which mean-field theory breaks down is d_c = 2·5. Thus the S_A-S_A' transition in three dimensions becomes mean-field like in the presence of a symmetry-breaking field. We estimate the reduced temperature region where we can expect to see the mean field S_A-S_A' critical point in the presence of a magnetic field or a dislocation layer.     

New TGBA series exhibiting a SC*SASA*N* phase sequence

A new series with a chiral tolane core has been synthesized. These materials belong to the optically active series: 3-fluoro-4-[(R) or (S)-1-methylheptyloxy]4'-(4'-alkyloxy-3'-fluorobenzoyloxy)tolanes (nFBTFO₁M₇). For the first time, the helical S_A* phase or TGB_A phase is found in all of the derivatives from heptyloxy to octadecyloxy. The S_A-S_A*-N* phase sequence is observed in several compounds with short chains and the S_C*-S_A-S_A*-N* phase sequence is obtained with the decyloxy derivative. The TGB_A phase has filament or cholesteric textures. The helical pitch of the TGB_A phase is short for the octadecyloxy derivative and is compared with that for different chain lengths as a function of temperature. The layer spacing in the TGB_A phase shows that it is incommensurate with the fully elongated molecular length.     

Synthesis and characterization of smectic polymesomorphism in higher homologues of nO.m compounds

Some of the higher homologues of the N-(p-n-alkoxybenzylidene)p-n-alkylanilines, n O.m, compounds with n ≧ 8 and m ≧ 5 have been synthesized and the smectic polymesomorphism studied. The transition temperatures were obtained from both thermal microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. These compounds in the n O.m series exhibit the usual phase sequences, viz. S_AS_CS_BS_G, and S_AS_BS_G apart from S_AS_CS_FS_G by 9O.8 (and some higher n O.m, like 9O.6). These phases were confirmed by miscibility studies with standard materials. The smectic F phase in 9O.8 compound is also confirmed by an X-ray diffraction study.     

The system CePO4–K3PO4

The phase diagram of the system CePO₄–K₃PO₄ has been determined based on investigations by differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, IR spectroscopy and optical microscopy. The system contains only one intermediate compound K₃Ce(PO₄)₂, which melts incongruently at (1500±20)°C. This compound is stable down to room temperature and exhibits a polymorphic transition at 1180°C. It was confirmed that the low-temperature form β-K₃Ce(PO₄)₂ crystallizes in a monoclinic system, space group P2₁/m with unit cell parameters a=9.579 (5), b=5.634 (6), c=7.468 (5) Å; =γ=90°, β=90.81 (3)°; V=403.083 Å³.