title: Electro-optic response of the anticlinic, antiferroelectric liquid-crystal phase of a biaxial bent-core molecule with tilt angle near 45∘.
abstract: We describe the unusual electro-optic response of a biaxial bent-core liquid crystal molecule that exhibits an anticlinic, antiferroelectric smectic phase (Sm-C(A)P(A)) with a molecular tilt angle close to 45°. In the ground state, the sample shows very low birefringence. A weak applied electric field distorts the antiferroelectric ground state, inducing a small azimuthal reorientation of the molecules on the tilt cone. This results in only a modest increase in the birefringence but an anomalously large (∼40°) analog rotation of the extinction direction. This unusual electro-optic response is shown to be a consequence of the molecular biaxiality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390, USA.
authors.forename: Michi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Renfan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Korblova
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Maclennan
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Walba
authors.forename: Noel A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001718:Birefringence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017097:Electric Impedance; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular