Untwisting of the helical superstructure in the cholesteric and chiral smectic C*phases of cross-linked liquid-crystalline polymers by strain

It is possible to untwist reversibly the helical superstructure of elastomers with cholesteric and chiral smectic C*phases by using strain. In that way a cholesteric structure can be transformed into a nematic structure and a chiral smectic C*into a smectic C structure. The latter case is especially interesting because a structure without a macroscopic polarization (chiral smectic C*) is transformed into one with a macroscopic polarization (smectic C like arrangement).