Refractive indices, order parameter and principal polarizability of cholesteric liquid crystals and their homogeneous mixtures

Measurements of refractive indices (n_e,n_o) and birefringence (Δn) have been made in solid, cholesteric and isotropic phases of cholesteryl carbonate, cholesteryl stearate and their three homogeneous mixtures of concentration 0.25, 0.50 and 0.77 at varying temperature in the range of 18-35 °C. The results clearly indicates that various transitions are of the first order. For accurate measurement of Δn, a modified wedge method was used. Using n_e and n_o, principal polarizability (α_e,α_o), internal field factor (γ_e,γ_o) and order parameter (S) have been evaluated, and their temperature dependence discussed. The order parameter has been determined by using the isotropic internal field model (Vuks approach) and the anisotropic internal field model (Neugebauer's approach), and both values agree up to average deviation of 0.7%.