Optical modulation in nematic phase of halogen substituted hydrogen bonded liquid crystals

A series of halogen-substituted hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline complexes have been designed and synthesised. A successful attempt has been made to form complementary hydrogen bonding between the dodecyloxy benzoic acid (12BAO) and halogen-substituted benzoic acids and the physical properties exhibited by the individual complexes are studied. The complexes obtained are analysed by polarising optical microscope (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dielectric studies. The formation of complementary hydrogen bond is confirmed through FTIR spectra. An interesting feature of this series is the observation of a field-induced transition (FiT) in nematic phase. Another interesting phenomenon is the observation of a new smectic X phase (worm-like texture) in all the synthesised complexes. Dielectric relaxation studies in the smectic C phase of these hydrogen bonded complexes along with the Arrhenius and the Cole–Cole plots are discussed. Optical tilt angle in smectic C phase and the corresponding fitted data analysis concur with the Mean field theory prediction.     

Study and characterization of the smectic X* phase in binary mixtures of thermotropic double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals

Thermotropic double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals (DHBFLCs) composed of N-carbamyl-L-glutamic acid (CGA) and p-n-alkyloxy benzoic acids (BAO) have been investigated. Variation in the molar proportion of X and Y (where X = CGA + 5BAO and Y = CGA + 6BAO, CGA + 7BAO, and CGA + 8BAO) composed of three series yielded 27 binary mixtures. Optical and thermal properties of these mixtures are meticulously studied in the present article. A novel smectic ordering, namely smectic X*, is observed in all the three series. The aim of the investigation is to obtain an abundance occurrence of smectic X* and hence the proportions of the binary mixtures are so chosen that the preamble task is accomplished. Phase diagrams of three series are constructed from the data obtained from polarizing optical microscope (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies. Odd–even effect, order of the phase transition, thermal stability factor, thermal equilibrium, and optical tilt angle are also premeditated.     

Double hydrogen bonded ferroelectric liquid crystals: A study of field induced transition (FiT)

A novel series of chiral hydrogen bonded liquid crystals have been isolated. Hydrogen bond was formed between chiral nonmesogen ingredient levo tartaric acid and mesogenic p-n-alkoxybenzoic acids. Phase diagram was constructed from the transition temperatures obtained by DSC and polarizing optical microscopic (POM) studies. Thermal and electrical properties exhibited by three complexes namely LTA+8BA, LTA+7BA and LTA+5BA were discussed. Salient feature of the present work was the observation of a reentrant smectic ordering in LTA+8BA complex designated as C_r¹ phase. This reentrant phenomenon was confirmed by DSC thermograms, optical textures of POM and temperature variation of capacitance and dielectric loss studies. Tilt angle was measured in smectic C¹ and reentrant smectic C_r¹ phases. Another interesting feature of the present investigation was the observation of a field induced transition (FiT) in the LTA+nBA homologous series. Three threshold field values were noticed which give rise to two new phases (E₁ and E₂) induced by electric field and on further enhancement of the applied field the mesogen behaves like an optical shutter. FiT is reversible in the sense that when applied field is removed the original texture was restored.     

Transient grating optical nonlinearities in nematic,cholesteric and smectic liquid crystals

The transients of Kerr-like optical nonlinearities in various liquid crystals observed with picosecond light-induced dynamic gratings are discussed. It is shown that relatively high intensities and strong optical fields of short laser pulses lead to rapid molecular reorientation, ultrasound generation, multiphoton absorption, cholesteric helix deformation and other new phenomena which are not only of interest for basic liquid-crystal research but also determine photonic switching times in liquid crystalline all-optical devices.     

Coherent backscattering of light in nematic liquid crystals

Multiple light scattering by director fluctuations in nematic liquid crystals is considered. A uniform director orientation is assumed to be specified by an applied magnetic field. The coherent backscattering effect, which consists in the presence of a sharp light backscattering peak, is studied. The Bethe-Salpeter equation is used to calculate the multiple scattering intensity taking into account the contributions of ladder and cyclic diagrams. An analytical expression for the angular and polarization dependences of the coherent backscattering intensity is obtained in terms of the diffusion approximation. The calculation and experimental results are compared. The developed theory is shown to qualitatively describe the elliptical shape of the backscattering cone, to explain the absence of a coherent contribution for crossed polarizations, and to calculate the relative peak height.     

Electrical Freedericksz transitions in nematic liquid crystals containing ferroelectric nanoparticles

A new theoretical approach was elaborated to explain the contradictions reported in many papers about the electric threshold for Freedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystal (NLC) with ferroparticles additives. The free energy density of the mixture was estimated and the contributions of the interaction energy of NLC molecules with ferroparticles surface were calculated. Experimental results for 5CB-BaTiO₃ mixture are given.     

Comparison of supramolecular hydrogen bonded liquid crystals

Supramolecular hydrogen bonded liquid crystals are formed by methoxy hydroquinone (MHQ) and alkyloxy benzoic acids are isolated and characterised. MHQ formed double hydrogen bonds with p-n-alkyloxy benzoic acids. Fourier Transform–Infrared studies confirm the hydrogen bond formation in the complex. Polarising Optical Microscopic (POM) studies revealed the textural information, while the transition and enthalpy values are experimentally deduced from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) studies. Phase diagram has been constructed from the POM and DSC data, respectively. Experimental data of optical tilt angle in Smectic C phase have been fitted to a power law and it has been observed that the temperature variation of the tilt angle follows Mean Field theory prediction. Present homologous are compared with hydroquinone alkyloxy benzoic acids complexes and the influence of methyl group on the occurrence of phases and its transition temperatures are discussed.     

Electrohydrodynamic instabilities in nematic liquid crystals under dichotomous parametric modulation

The onset of EHD instabilities in nematic liquid crystals driven by parametric modulation is investigated starting with the one-dimensional linear model of Dubois-Violette. The superposition of a constant electric field with a dichotomous (stochastic or periodic) field as well as the superposition of two dichotomous stochastic fields (pregaussian noise) are considered in detail. The experimentally observed discontinuous behaviour of the threshold (direct transition towards chaos) above a critical strength of the driving field and the dependence of the threshold curve on the correlation time of the noise can be explained qualitatively. Experiments to complete the phase diagram are proposed.     

Simulation of coherent backscattering of light in nematic liquid crystals

Multiple scattering of light by the fluctuations of the director in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) aligned by a magnetic field is considered. A peak of coherent backscattering is calculated by numerical simulation. Since the indicatrix of single scattering for a liquid crystal (LC) is known exactly, the calculations are carried out without any simplifying assumptions on the parameters of the liquid crystal. Multiple scattering is simulated as a random walk of photons in the medium. A peak of coherent backscattering in such a medium is very narrow; therefore, the so-called semianalytical method is applied. The parameters of the backscattering peak obtained by numerical simulation are compared with the available experimental data and with the results of analytical approximations. It turns out that the experimental data are in good agreement with the results of simulation. The results of numerical simulation adequately describe the anisotropy and the width of the backscattering peak.     

A study of polarization in smectic liquid crystals via statistical-physics methods

The spontaneous polarization processes in synclinic and anticlinic smectic liquid crystals are discussed in the context of molecular statistical theory. The effects of interaction between molecules, external electric fields, and bending of molecules via polarization are elucidated as well.     

Optical model of transient light scattering in ferroelectric liquid crystals

A static optical model is developed for the effect of field-induced transient scattering on coherent light transmission through ferroelectric liquid crystals. Scattering processes are described by introducing an optically anisotropic medium containing scatterers (transient domains). The results presented in the paper are obtained for a plane parallel layer of ferroelectric liquid crystals with a planar helicoidal structure under normal illumination with a linearly polarized plane wave. An analysis is presented of the coherent transmittance of the layer in static applied electric fields.     

Dynamic mechanism of the ferroelectric to antiferroelectric phase transition in chiral smectic liquid crystals

The temperature-induced phase transition between the chiral smectic phases, antiferroelectric (smectic-C(A)*) and ferroelectric (smectic-C*), is found to occur through solitary wave propagation. We measure the free energy, which shows a double well shape in the entire SmC(A)* temperature range and the global minimum is found to shift from the antiferroelectric order to the ferroelectric order at the transition temperature. However, any significant supercooling is not observed and the transition cannot be described by the first order Landau-de Gennes theory, where the double well potential exists only in a narrow range of temperatures. This implies that the SmC(A)*-SmC* transition can occur only nonhomogeneously through the solitary wave propagation which overcomes the high energy barrier between the two minima.     

Design,synthesis and characterization of a linear hydrogen bonded homologous series exhibiting reentrant smectic C ordering

Design, synthesis and characterization of seven linear hydrogen bonded liquid crystal complexes derived from mesogenic p–n-decyloxy benzoic acid and p–n-alkyl benzoic acids designated as 10OØn (where n varied from ethyl to octyl) are reported. FTIR studies confirm the hydrogen bond formation in all these complexes. The phase transition temperatures and their corresponding enthalpy values are experimentally deduced from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) studies. POM and DSC data are further utilized for the construction of 10OØn phase diagram. Two Odd–even effects have been evinced, one in enthalpy values and the other in corresponding transition temperatures across the isotropic to nematic phase transition. An interesting result is the observation of re-entrant smectic ordering, designated as smectic C_R in three higher ordered mesogens. A new smectic ordering, smectic X, has been observed which is sandwiched between traditional smectic C and re-entrant smectic C_R. Magnitudes of optical tilt angle in smectic C, smectic X and smectic C_R are experimentally found to attain saturation with decrement of temperature in the corresponding phase. The occurrence of smectic X and smectic C_R are discussed with relation to the molecular chemical structure. The optical filtering action in smectic C and re-entrant smectic C_R phases have been analyzed.     

Electric Nusselt number characterization of electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals

We develop a characterization method of electroconvection structures in a planar nematic liquid crystal layer by a study of the electric current transport. Because the applied potential difference has a sinusoidal time dependence, we define two electric Nusselt numbers corresponding to the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the current. These Nusselt numbers are predicted theoretically using a weakly nonlinear analysis of the standard model. Our measurements of the electric current confirm that both numbers vary linearly with the distance from onset until the occurence of secondary transitions. A systematic comparison between our theoretical and experimental results, using no adjusted parameters, demonstrates moderate agreement, but discrepancies remain. Electric transport measurements during electroconvection represent a quantitative test of the standard model completely independent from optical probes. Thus, the technique described here can be a useful complement to traditional structural measurements. Received 21 January 2001 and Received in final form 1st February 2002     

On the deflection of light by topological defects in nematic liquid crystals

The influence of controllable parameters like temperature and wavelength on the trajectories of light in a nematic liquid crystal with topological defects is studied through a geometric model. The model incorporates phenomenological details as how the refractive indices depend on such parameters. The deflection of light by the topological defect is then shown to be greater at lower temperatures and shorter wavelengths.     

Experimental study of de Vries properties in antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystals

Results of the experimental study on different antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) materials are presented using a number of techniques such as the optical birefringence, electro-optics and the measurements of optical thickness of free-standing films. Despite differences in the molecular structures of the various AFLC materials studied, these are found to exhibit a de Vries type of smecticA^* (SmA ^*) properties in a temperature range higher than SmC ^* . This correlation leads to the conclusion that these two classes of liquid crystals are related to each other. Furthermore, we suggest that these arise from the same physical mechanism, namely the existence of the weak synclinic (or reduced anticlinic) correlations between the neighbouring molecular tilt directions.     

Decrease in the threshold of electric Freedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystals doped with ferroelectric nanoparticles

A phenomenological theory of electric Freedericksz transition in planar-oriented nematic liquid crystals doped with spherical ferroelectric nanoparticles is considered. It is shown that even spherical nanoparticles can critically reduce the threshold of Freedericksz transition, due to their ability to strongly increase the electric field in the medium. At higher values of polarization and concentration of nanoparticles a Freedericksz transition without threshold can occur. In this case only an insignificant electric field needs for orienting the nanoparticles.