title: Probable Langevin-like director reorientation in an interface-induced disordered SmC*-like state of liquid crystals characterized by frustration between ferro- and antiferroelectricity.
abstract: To clarify the thresholdless, hysteresis free V-shaped switching due to frustration between ferro- and antiferroelectricity, we have studied a prototype binary mixture system. The apparent orientational order parameters, <P2> and <P4>, obtained from polarized Raman scattering in thin homogeneous cells indicate that substrate interfaces induce some randomization of local in-plane directors at the tip of the V. Their correlation lengths, xi( parallel) approximately 3.5 nm and xi( perpendicular) approximately 75 nm, have been estimated by assuming the Langevin-like reorientation. Because of the much shorter xi(parallel) and xi(perpendicular) than the visible light wavelength, the switching process looks uniform.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Seomun