Effect of Chemical Structures of Constituent Molecules for Light-induced Bicontinuous Cubic Liquid Crystalline Phase Transition

Abstract

Effects of chemical structures of constituent molecules (azobenzene derivative and host LC compound) on light-induced liquid crystalline phase transition from 1D-organized smectic C (SmC) to the 3D-organized bicontinuous cubic (Cubbi) phases have been studied. We synthesized new azobenzene derivatives having different ester moieties (methyl, ethyl and phenyl). It was revealed that combination of the host LC (ANBC or ACBC) and the azobenzene derivatives provides a profound effect on the light-induced transition behavior for the binary systems.