Field-induced phase transitions in antiferroelectric liquid crystals |
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Authors: | Qian T Taylor P L |
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Affiliation: | Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. |
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Abstract: | A theoretical study is made of the process by which an antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystal undergoes a field-induced transition to ferroelectric alignment. We find that for cells of moderate thickness the initial departure from antiferroelectric alignment occurs as a continuous Fréedericksz transition. The following transition from partial alignment to complete ferroelectric ordering may occur as either a first-order or continuous transition, depending on the relative strength of some of the model parameters. The case where the transition is continuous provides a possible mechanism for some recently observed thresholdless transitions in these systems. |
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