Electro-optical response and phase transition in the frustrated smectic phases originated by competition between ferroelectric and anti-ferroelectric ordering

Abstract

In the binary phase diagram of chiral molecules, MC881 and MC452, the transition line between anticlinic SmCA* and synclinic SmC* phases becomes apparently parallel to the temperature axis at the critical concentration, φc. The fact that subtle concentration difference changes clinicity in adjacent layers suggests that tilting correlation in adjacent layers will be weaken by the competition between synclinic and anticlinic structures. Nearφc, we confirmed that a driving voltage becomes low at the higher temperature region of SmCA*, while it is not low far from φc. In this paper, we measured the electrooptic properties depending on the concentration, and discuss the relation of tilting correlation and driving voltage or response time.