Theory of two- and three-dimensional bent-core mesophases.
An extension of the vector-wave theory of antiferroelectric bent-core liquid crystals to columnar and soft-crystalline mesophases is presented. We enumerate and describe the phases resulting from the condensation of one, two, and three vector waves in the isotropic liquid of bent-core molecules. Beside the one-dimensional B2 and smectic- CP phases, 24 columnar and soft-crystalline orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic phases can be stabilized when two or three waves have nonparallel wave vectors. Their symmetry groups, molecular arrangements, and phase diagrams are worked out and used to identify the structures of the main observed bent-core phases and their various subphases.
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