title: Apparent tricritical behavior at a nearly second-order nematic-isotropic phase transition of a cyclic liquid crystalline trimer.
abstract: The cyclic liquid crystalline trimer TPB-(c)9(3) was investigated by optical retardation and Fréedericksz techniques within a few tens of millikelvins of the superheating limit of the nearly second-order nematic-isotropic phase transition. Both the optical retardation and the Fréedericksz bend threshold voltage are in good agreement with tricritical behavior for the transition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7079, USA.
authors.forename: Ishtiaque M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Virgil
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Percec
authors.forename: Rolfe G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Petschek
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt