title: Degeneracy lifting due to thermal fluctuations around the frustration point between anticlinic antiferroelectric SmC(A)* and synclinic ferroelectric SmC*.
abstract: In the binary mixture phase diagram of MC881 and MC452, the borderline between anticlinic antiferroelectric SmC(A)(*) and synclinic ferroelectric SmC(*) becomes apparently parallel to the temperature ordinate axis at the critical concentration r(c). The free energy difference between SmC(A)(*) and SmC^{*} is extremely small in a wide temperature range near r(c). In such circumstances, by observing Bragg reflection spectra due to the director helical structure and electric-field-induced birefringence, we have observed the continuous change from SmC(A)(*) to SmC(*) for r</~r(c) and the gradual growth of the full-pitch band over 5 °C or more in the apparent SmC(*) temperature region for r>/~r(c). These intriguing phenomena have been explained, successfully at least in the high-temperature region, by a thermal equilibrium between the synclinic and anticlinic orderings and the resulting Boltzmann distribution for the ratio between them; the thermal equilibrium is considered to be attained in a nonuniform defect-assisted way through solitary waves moving around dynamically. We have also discussed qualitatively an important role played by the effective long-range interlayer interactions in the low-temperature region.
authors: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors: K L
authors: KL
authors: Sandhya
authors: A D L
authors: AD
authors: Chandani
authors: Atsuo
authors: A
authors: Fukuda
authors: Jagdish K
authors: JK
authors: Vij
authors: A V
authors: AV
authors: Emelyanenko
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Ishikawa
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012031:Refractometry; D013696:Temperature