title: Electroclinic effect in a chiral carbosilane-terminated 5-phenylpyrimidine liquid crystal with 'de Vries-like' properties.
abstract: The chiral carbosilane-terminated liquid crystal 2-[(2S,3S)-2,3-difluorohexyloxy]-5-[4-(12,12,14,14,16,16-hexamethyl-12,14,16-trisilaheptadecyloxy)phenyl]pyrimidine () undergoes a smectic A*-smectic C* phase transition with a maximum layer contraction of only 0.2%. It exhibits an electroclinic effect (ECE) comparable to that reported for the 'de Vries-like' liquid crystal and shows no appreciable optical stripe defects due to horizontal chevron formation.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. rplemieux@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Christopher P J
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wand
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giesselmann
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lemieux