Helical pitch of ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers and copolymers

Ferroelectric liquid-crystalline polymers and copolymers were synthesized from acrylate polymers with side chains consisting of a flexible spacer unit, a mesogenic unit and an optically active substituent. In the chiral smectic C (S*_c) phases typical fan-shaped textures with equidistant lines (caused by the helical structures) were observed. It was found that the helical pitch increased with increasing polymer molecular weight. The helical pitch also increased in copolymers containing mixtures of right- and left-handed chiral side chains.