title: Ellipsometric studies of synclinic and anticlinic arrangements in liquid crystal films
abstract: The molecular arrangements in liquid crystal freestanding films are studied when smectic C* surface ordering occurs above the bulk smectic A to smectic C* transition temperature. Details of the resulting structures are resolved using ellipsometry. The behavior of the film is compound dependent. Below a critical electric field, either a synclinic or anticlinic structure may be present depending on the magnitude of the bulk spontaneous polarization. A model is presented in which the low-field anticlinic arrangement results from the interaction between polarization fluctuations at the two surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pankratz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bahr
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Goodby
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang