title: Ferroelectric columnar liquid crystal featuring confined polar groups within core-shell architecture.
abstract: Ferroelectric liquid crystals are materials that have a remnant and electrically invertible polar order. Columnar liquid crystals with a ferroelectric nature have potential use in ultrahigh-density memory devices, if electrical polarization occurs along the columnar axis. However, columnar liquid crystals having an axial nonzero polarization at zero electric field and its electrical invertibility have not been demonstrated. Here, we report a ferroelectric response for a columnar liquid crystal adopting a core-shell architecture that accommodates an array of polar cyano groups confined by a hydrogen-bonded amide network with an optimal strength. Under an applied electric field, both columns and core cyano groups align unidirectionally, thereby developing an extremely large macroscopic remnant polarization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daigo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miyajima
authors.forename: Fumito
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Araoka
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takezoe
authors.forename: Jungeun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Takuzo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aida