Depolarised Rayleigh scattering and textures in the nematic phase of some 4,n-alkyloxybenzoic acids

Abstract

The depolarised Rayleigh scattering temperature dependence of the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth homologues of 4,n-alkyloxybenzoic acid was investigated. A sharp increase of the scattered light intensity upon cooling was observed in the middle of the nematic phase. Polarised microscopic investigations confirmed the textural difference between the high- and low-temperature nematic regions (N1 and N2). The observed anomaly as well as the transition between classical (N1) and smectic C-like (N2) regions are discussed.