Structure of the liquid-crystal ferrielectric phases as determined by ellipsometry
The unit cell structures of two ferrielectric liquid-crystal phases are determined from ellipsometric studies of freestanding films in a nondistorting rotatable electric field. A highly biaxial mode with out-of-plane distortions describes all of the data from two different compounds. Qualitative and quantitative features of the data rule out alternate models. We also present a detailed explanation for apparent inconsistencies between previous resonant x-ray and optical experiments.
Johnson
PM
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Olson
DA
Pankratz
S
Nguyen
T
Goodby
J
Hird
M
Huang
CC