1. Mean-field theory of the uniaxial ferroelectric smectic A liquid crystal phase
- Author
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Erkoreka, Aitor, Huang, Minjung, Aya, Satoshi, and Martinez-Perdiguero, Josu
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter - Abstract
Following the groundbreaking discovery of the ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal phase (NF), a series of closely-related new polar phases have also been found. An especially interesting one is the ferroelectric smectic A phase (SmAF) with spontaneous polarization along the layer normal observed in a few materials of the NF realm. Here, we present a mean-field molecular model that successfully captures the rich phase diagrams experimentally observed in the literature in terms of two parameters. Additionally, we carry out second harmonic generation, X-ray diffraction and birefringence measurements in a compound exhibiting the SmAF phase to determine the appropriate order parameters and compare with the model predictions.
- Published
- 2024
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