Liao G, Stojadinovic S, Pelzl G, Weissflog W, Sprunt S, Jákli A. Optically isotropic liquid-crystal phase of bent-core molecules with polar nanostructure.
PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2005;
72:021710. [PMID:
16196588 DOI:
10.1103/physreve.72.021710]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2004] [Revised: 06/13/2005] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
We found that the optically isotropic (I(M)) mesophase observed recently below the nematic phase of the bent-core liquid crystal 4-chlororesorcinol bis[4-(4-n-dodecyloxybenzoyloxy)benzoate] shows ferroelectric-type switching. Polarizing microscopic, electric current, dielectric, and dynamic light scattering studies lead us to propose that the I(M) phase is composed of interconnected orthoconic racemic smectic (Sm-Ca P(F)) nanodomains with random layer orientations. Near the nematic phase, where the polarization can be saturated by electric fields, the system responds in a fashion analogous to the granular structure of a magnetic spin glass--in particular, we observed that the relaxation back to the nonpoled structure follows a similar, inverse logarithmic rule.
Collapse