title: Layer-scale optical chirality of liquid-crystalline phases.
abstract: We present a model for the optical chirality of layered liquid-crystalline phases. The model demonstrates that uniform stacking of chiral layers can lead to significant collective optical rotation, even in the absence of a superlayer helix. We predict the optical rotation of the B2 phases of bent-core liquid crystals, which can have optical rotation as large as 1000 times the molecular optical activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, USA.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Hough
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Clark