摘要:

We describe the experimental properties of metastable domains associated with the presence of an Inversion Wall (IW) and observed with homeotropically anchored nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals sandwiched between parallel glass plates. Such a distorted situation, stabilized by the application of an electric field parallel to the plates as described in reference [1], can also be obtained transiently either when filling a sample cell by capillarity or in some studies of directional solidification at the N-I interface [2]. The application of an electric field perpendicular to the plates with Delta epsilon 0 materials allows control of the reversal region thickness in the bulk of the sample and its associated birefringence. This IW can be stabilized in the particular case of low lateral extension globules in which the line tension of the looped disclination separating the pi wall regions from the homeotropic regions counterbalances the unfavourable bulk free energy. Particular attention is devoted to the defects of these walls, whose appearance using polarizing microscopy is similar to the umbilics of the Freedericksz transition. The structure of these 'four brush' defects is nevertheless here singular, corresponding to point defects of a 3D uniaxial nematic medium. In the case of a chiral nematic, these IW undergo a particular undulation instability which is also observed in 2D simulations.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207894

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Novel liquid crystalline Low Molecular Mass (LMM) materials bearing two chiral lactate groups, as well as compounds of like structure to MHPOBC have been synthesized. All the LMM compounds exhibit the SmC*A (antiferroelectric) and/or SmC*gamma (ferrielectric) phases. The mesogens have been incorporated as pendant groups on polymer backbones of three different natures to prepare side chain liquid crystalline copolysiloxanes, homopolysiloxanes and homopolyacrylates. The investigation of the polymers by means of miscibility studies showed that the antiferro- and ferri-electric phases are strongly destabilized in the coposiloxanes and homopolysiloxanes, while in the homopolyacrylates a large temperature range mesophase is found to be miscible with the SmC*A phase. The physical properties of the mesophases and their stability, both for the LMM materials and the polymers, are presented and discussed.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207902

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Bulk heptyloxybenzylidene butylaniline (7O.4) undergoes first order nematic (N)-isotropic (I), nematic-smectic A (SmA), and smectic C (SmC)-crystal G(CrG) transitions as well as a mean-field second order SmA-SmC transition. The dispersion of 70A diameter hydrophobic silica aerosil particles in 7O.4 leads to doubling and significant temperature shifts for all three first order transitions, as determined with a.c. calorimetry. The SmA-SmC heat capacity peak merely shifts in position while remaining a single sharp Landau feature with an amplitude that decreases as the aerosil density increases. The behaviour of three 7O.4 + hydrophobic aerosil samples is discussed and compared to that of one 7O.4 + hydrophilic aerosil and previously reported results for 7O.4 + aerogel and 4O.8 + aerosil samples.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207911

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

4-Hexadecyloxyphenyl-4-carboxybenzoate (A) and 4-carboxyphenyl-4-hexadecyloxy benz- oate (B) were prepared and thermally characterized by polarized light microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Both compounds possess high transition temperatures indicating the formation of linear dimer molecules in the solid and liquid phases. The infrared data support the conclusion that the alkoxyphenyl carbonyl unit in A is more polarizable and hence stabilizes the intermolecular packing, thus leading to enhanced mesogenicity. Mixtures of the two compounds were prepared and thermally characterized to construct the phase diagram that showed a simple eutectic behaviour in the solid-mesophase transitions, and a linear mesophase-isotropic transition temperatures. The latter behaviour was attributed to similar electronic factors in both molecules.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207920

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

We synthesized novel fluorine-substituted chiral compounds having a fluorine atom at an asymmetric carbon and a difluorinated biphenyl ring as a core of a liquid crystal molecule by means of an original method. The ferroelectric mixtures were obtained by mixing the chiral compounds with the non-chiral liquid crystal mixture with a wide SmC temperature range between 29 C (crystallized) and 78 C. They show a large P s greater than 10 nC cm -2 at 5 wt% of the chiral compound. Two types of cell, called 'parallel' and 'antiparallel', were fabricated according to the relative direction of the rubbing direction on the substrates. The parallel cells filled with the FLC mixtures show the usual bistable SSFLC (surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal). The fast response time of 60mus (22V pp pulse width 250mus, at room temperature) was obtained. The apparent cone angle was 45.2 in the switching state and 40.5 in the memory state. On the other hand, the antiparallel cells show an unusual monostable behaviour, i.e. the director falls back to the original configuration when the applied voltage is switched off. The surface-stabilized monostable cells show very attractive characteristics for application for a TFT-active matrix LCD; a high contrast of 81 :1, a fast response time (of the order of 1ms), and an analogue-grey scale with excellent linearity within the low voltage range below 4 V.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207939

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

A transition between the transparent smectic A (SmA) phase and the light scattering chiral nematic (N*) phase was realized based on the thermally induced SmA N* phase transition for the homeotropically aligned \[liquid crystalline polymer (LCP)/liquid crystal (LC)/chiral dopant] ternary composite system. The LCP played an important role in increasing the intensity of the light scattering of the heat-induced N* phase. Meanwhile the effects of the composition of the ternary composite system on the thermo-optical characteristics were also investigated.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207948

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

A two-dimensional model composed of a synthesis of the Leslie-Ericksen continuumtheory of nematics and the Euler-Lagrange equation for surface director motion is used to study the magnetic-induced director reorientation dynamics confined in spherical bipolar droplets with viscoelastic surfaces. The magnetic field is restricted to the droplet axis of symmetry direction. The numerical results indicate that the surface viscosity and anchoring strength must be taken into account to describe accurately director reorientation dynamics in droplets. In addition, the numerical results replicate frequently reported experimental observations on the performance of polymer dispersed liquid crystal films. These observations include the familiar exponential increase followed by saturation in light transmittance as the external applied field increases, and the exponential increase (decrease) followed by saturation as time increases in the on (off) state. Furthermore, this model is able to predict precisely the relationships between the rise and decay times and the external applied field strength, and the fact that the switching field strength is inversely proportional to droplet size.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207957

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

The preparation and mesomorphic properties of four members of the homologous series of dimers, alkandioic acid bis\[pentakis(n -heptanoyloxy)phenyl] esters \[(C6 H13 COO)5 C6 OC(O)(CH2)(n-2)/2]2 with n= 6, 8, 12 and 14, are reported. They are henceforth referred to as T n. Between -100 C and the isotropic liquid (I) the four compounds exhibit, with increasing temperature, the phase sequence Cr P I, where Cr is a solid and P is an intermediate phase which is crystalline for T6 and T8, and columnar discotic for T12 and T14. The mesophases of T12 and T14 are completely miscible with that of the corresponding monomer, hexaheptanoyloxybenzene (BHA7) and thus are identified as of type Col rd. This assignment is confirmed by X-ray measurements which also provide the lattice parameters for the two-dimensional columnar array. Deuterium and carbon-13 NMR measurements indicate that the side chains in the P(Cr) phases of T6 and T8 are dynamically disordered, while the benzene core is rigid. In the P(Col) mesophases of T12 and T14, the side chains are also disordered, but in addition the benzene cores undergo high amplitude planar librations. Analysis of the carbon-13 spectra of the carboxyl groups in the latter compounds shows a distribution of librational amplitudes around a mean value of about one rad with a variance of 0.14 rad2. The structure of the mesophases can be visualized as columns consisting of stacked monomeric units. The monomers are linked via spacers to their counterparts in neighbouring columns. The stacking level of the monomeric units in neighbouring columns is not correlated. Some pairs are stacked at the same level, resulting in loose spacers and high librational amplitudes, while other pairs are stacked at different levels with a corresponding tightening of the spacers and reduced librational amplitudes.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207966

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Neutron reflectivity has been used to investigate the porosity and surface roughness of three different liquid crystal alignment layers to elucidate how they orient the director. The absorption of hexane into these alignment layers was measured by neutron reflection and the volume fraction profile of the hexane within the layers was determined using the contrast variation method. Measurements were made on rubbed polyimide and silicon monoxide (SiO) evaporated at 5 and 30 to the substrate. The porosity and surface roughness of the alignment layers were found to be correlated with the induced pre-tilt of the director. The low pre-tilt rubbed polyimide and SiO 30 alignment layers were found to be smooth, uniform and impervious to hexane, whilst the high pre-tilt SiO 5 was porous and extremely rough. These observations suggest that both polyimide and SiO 30 rely on an anisotropic interaction with the surface rather than one induced by the surface topography. In contrast, the alignment of liquid crystals by SiO 5 probably originates from an interaction between the mesogens and the rough, porous surface.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207975

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

A high precision rotating ellipsometer was used to perform a systematic study of the pretransitional orientational order induced by the free surface of n-alkylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystals (n=5-12) in the isotropic phase. All the compounds of this series show a complete wetting behaviour at the free surface. The temperature dependence of the surface order parameter was determined via calculations based on the Landau-de Gennes theory and the results show an even-odd behaviour. Moreover, we used a neural network recognition algorithm to reconstruct the order parameter profile S (z) near the surface. The results of this model-independent analysis are compared with the model based calculations.

ISSN:0267-8292    

DOI:10.1080/026782997207984

出版商:Taylor & Francis Group    

年代:1997

数据来源: Taylor