Freedericksz transition in an anticlinic liquid crystal
It is shown experimentally that a very-long-pitch, surface-stabilized, anticlinic liquid crystal undergoes a two-step electric-field-induced transition to the synclinic phase. The liquid crystal remains undistorted below a threshold field E(th). For E>E(th), a Freedericksz transition occurs, wherein molecules in adjacent smectic layers undergo unequal azimuthal rotations about the layer normal. At higher fields a transition to the synclinic phase occurs via solitary waves.
Zhang
S
Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Wen
B
Keast
SS
Neubert
ME
Taylor
PL
Rosenblatt
C