Effective long-range interlayer interactions and electric-field-induced subphases in ferrielectric liquid crystals
Citation:
Chandani, A.D.L., Fukuda, A., Vij, J.K., Takanishi, Y., Iida, A., Effective long-range interlayer interactions and electric-field-induced subphases in ferrielectric liquid crystals, Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 93, 4, 2016, 042707-1 to 12Download Item:
Abstract:
Microbeam resonant x-ray scattering experiments recently revealed the sequential emergence of electric-
field-induced subphases (stable states) with exceptionally large unit cells consisting of 12 and 15 smectic
layers. We explain the emergence of the field-induced subphases by the quasimolecular model based on
the Emelyanenko-Osipov long-range interlayer interactions (LRILIs) together with our primitive way of
understanding the frustration in clinicity using the
q
E
number defined as
q
E
=|
[
R
]
−
[
L
]
|
/
([
R
]
+
[
L
]); here [
R
]
and [
L
] refer to the numbers of smectic layers with directors tilted to the right and to the left, respectively, in
the unit cell of a field-induced subphase. We show that the model actually stabilizes the field-induced subphases
with characteristic composite unit cells consisting of several blocks, each of which is originally a ferrielectric
three-layer unit cell stabilized by the LRILIs, but some of which would be modified to become ferroelectric by
an applied electric field. In a similar line of thought, we also try to understand the puzzling electric-field-induced
birefringence data in terms of the LRILIs.
Sponsor
Grant Number
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)
13/US/I2866
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/jvijDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: VIJ, JAGDISH
Type of material:
Journal ArticleSeries/Report no:
Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics93
4
Availability:
Full text availableDOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.042707Metadata
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