A Family of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals with Very High Spontaneous Polarization

Abstract

Abstract A new family of ferroelectric liquid crystals is presented. In particular, some mixtures of compounds from this family show an interesting combination of high spontaneous polarization, good alignment properties and room temperature smectic C* phase. Measurements are presented for transition enthalpies, refractive indices, X-ray tilt angle, electro-optic tilt angle and spontaneous polarization. The electro-optic response is described as measured in 2 micron thick shear-aligned cells.