Electrooptical Kerr constant and third-order susceptibility measurements in nematic liquid crystals and their mixtures

We report for the first time the determination of the real part of the third order nonlinear susceptibilities ⁽³⁾ (–, , 0, 0) in the isotropic phase of two nematic liquid crystalsp-(ethoxybenzylidine)-p-butylaniline (EBBA) andp-(methoxybenzylidene)-p-butylaniline (MBBA) from electrooptic Kerr effect experiments. The highest value of ⁽³⁾ observed near nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature, at 632.8 nm is found to be 1.067×10^–20 m²V^–2 for EBBA and 6.602×10^–20 m²V^–2 for MBBA.