Dielectric Properties of Induced Smectics Composed of a Binary Liquid Crystal Mixture

Abstract

A mixture of two LC compounds working as an electron acceptor and donor, respectively, is known to exhibit highly ordered smectic phases owing to the charge-transfer interaction. They are called induced smectics. To reveal their dielectric properties coupled to molecular dynamics, we measured the dielectric constants of the induced SmE and SmB phases composed of 5CB and EBBA. In a wide temperature region, we detected a relaxation peak between 103 ~ 106 Hz, corresponding to a motion of molecules. The relaxation time indicates that the motion of the constituent molecules should be slightly slower than that of a typical SmE phase composed of a single component.