1c04 Giant Bend Elastic Constant in a Liquid Crystal

Abstract

We represent characteristic traits of a newly-synthesized calamitic LC compound (hereafter referred to as compound X) with an azo linkage. In order to determine elastic constants, Freedericksz transition method was used. By measuring the Freedericksz threshold voltage of the deformation of the director field induced by an electric field, K_<33>'s at each temperature were obtained. Surprisingly, it exhibits prodigious values over its wide nematic temperature range, 〜50 times larger compared to conventional calamitic LC, 〜10 pN. To our best knowledge, such a unprecedented mega-K_<33> has been only available for polymer LC or Gel-confined LC systems, because of the rigid network in these systems inhibiting LC molecules to bend. The phenomena are analogous to external-field driven ones.