Pan L, Wang S, Hsu CS, Huang CC. Thickness dependent phase behavior of antiferroelectric liquid crystal films.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2009;
103:187802. [PMID:
19905833 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.103.187802]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2009] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Free standing films of a liquid crystal compound with simple surface enhanced order were studied. The resultant phase diagram demonstrates that (1) the short helical pitch smectic-C(alpha)* phase disappears below a film thickness of 10 layers, and (2) the temperature window of a distorted 4 layer smectic-C(FI2)* phase increases dramatically upon decreasing film thickness. The experimental findings were attributed to the reduced dimensionality and enhanced surface effects in thin films. The results of the smectic-C(alpha)* phase are consistent with what have been reported for helically ordered magnetic thin films, with a noticeable difference due to the opposite effect of the surface on ordering in the two systems.
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