title: Switching mechanism in polar columnar mesophases made of bent-core molecules.
abstract: The behaviour of polar, broken-layer-type columnar phases made of bent molecules (B(1Rev) and B(1RevTilted)) was studied under an applied electric field. There are two competing mechanisms of ferroelectric switching in the polar B(1RevTilted) columnar phase: collective rotation around the long molecular axis and collective rotation around the tilt cone. The proposed model shows that the main factor discriminating the type of switching is the width of the column cross-section.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Warsaw University, Al. Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland. gorecka@chem.uw.edu.pl
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gorecka
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vaupotic
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pociecha
authors.forename: Mojca
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cepic
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mieczkowski