Axially Polar Columnar Phase Made of Polycatenar Bent-Shaped Molecules

Abstract

The polycatenar bent-shaped molecules are able to form columnar phases with column stratum built of few molecules, arranged in coplanar or conelike geometry. In the latter case, the phase becomes axially polar, with electric spontaneous polarization reorientable in the electric field by flipping the cone axis. The phase is antiferroelectric; in the plane perpendicular to columns, the ferroelectric hexagonal order exists, but the columns are broken along the z direction and the polarization direction alternates between the blocks.