Pyroelectric measurement of chiral smectic liquid crystal using Nd:YAG laser

Abstract

The nanosecond pulse pyroelectric technique has been applied to the measurements of the soft mode relaxation times on both side of the ferroelectric smectic A - C^* phase transition for chiral smectic liquid crystal. Inverse relaxation times seem to obey Curie-Weiss type behavior. "Tilt-viscosity" coefficient γ_θ has been calculated.