Molecular orientation arrangements in the smectic-C* variant liquid-crystal phases.
Recent experiments have identified three-layer and four-layer distorted helical structures in the smectic liquid-crystal phases Sm C*(FI1) and Sm C*(FI2), respectively. However, no theories have explained the existence of all these phases. A discrete phenomenological model of the free-energy is analyzed and found to predict the stability of distorted three-layer and four-layer structures, as well as simple helical solutions in smectic liquid crystals. A simple physical picture is provided to explain the stability of the phases exhibiting distorted helical structures.
Olson
D A
DA
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Han
X F
XF
Cady
A
A
Huang
C C
CC