Abstract
By simulation we have investigated the E (Electric field) -T (temperature) phase diagram of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal MHPOCBC, in which a new phase was found in the SmC_α^* phase under electric fields by means of the birefringence measurement. It was found that the new phase is a ferrielectric phase with a period of three layers, in which the molecules are restricted in one plane perpendicular to the electric field. Besides, we determined a tricritical point between SmA and SmC_α^* by simulation and numerical analysis.