Structure and dynamics of freely suspended film of the smectic-C*alpha phase in an external transverse electric field.
We present a theoretical analysis of static and dynamic properties of freely suspended films of the smectic-C*alpha phase in an external electric field, applied along the smectic layers. The analysis is performed within the "clock" model, where the interactions up to next-nearest neighbors are considered. The calculated critical electric field for the unwinding of the smectic-C*alpha phase is of the order of several 100 V/mm and strongly depends on the interlayer interactions. The calculated relaxation rates of the eigenfluctuations of a system of N layers are in the kilohertz range for phase fluctuations and several megahertz for amplitude fluctuations.
J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
M
M
Conradi
I
I
Musevic
M
M
Cepic