Smectic-Calpha*-smectic-C* phase transition and critical point in binary mixtures.
We have investigated the smectic-Calpha*-smectic-C* (SmCalpha*-SmC*) transition in a series of binary mixtures with resonant x-ray diffraction, differential optical reflectivity, and heat capacity measurements. Results show that the phases are separated by a first-order transition that ends at a critical point. We report the observation of such a critical point. We have proposed the appropriate order parameter and obtained values of two critical exponents associated with this transition. The values of the critical exponents suggest that long-range interactions are present in the SmCalpha*-SmC* critical region.
Liu
Z Q
ZQ
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Wang
S T
ST
McCoy
B K
BK
Cady
A
A
Pindak
R
R
Caliebe
W
W
Takekoshi
K
K
Ema
K
K
Nguyen
H T
HT
Huang
C C
CC