V-shaped switching in ferroelectric liquid crystal mixtures induced by an achiral swallow-tailed material

A new ferroelectric liquid crystal, 1-ethylpropyl ( S )-2-2-fluoro-4-(4'-decyloxybiphenylcarbonyloxy) benzoyloxy] propanoate, F , was synthesized and mixed with an achiral swallow-tailed material, 2-propylpentyl 4-(4'-nonyloxybiphenyl-4-carbonyloxy) benzoate, P , for the preparation of binary mixtures for the study. The binary mixtures gave a phase sequence SmA * -SmC * -SmX * . The electro-optic response of the mixtures in the ferroelectric SmC * phase was investigated. V-shaped switching was observed as the amount of the achiral swallow-tailed material became greater than 20 wt %. This result suggests that thresholdless, V-shaped switching in ferroelectric liquid crystal mixtures can be achieved by mixing a ferroelectric liquid crystal with an achiral swallow-tailed compound.