Diffuse X-ray Scattering from Freely Suspended Strands of a Discotic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

We present the first quantitative measurements of diffuse scattering in the vicinity of the Bragg $ \{ 100 \} $ peaks of a hexagonal discotic liquid crystal. The scattering takes the form of a toroid lying in the HK0 plane. The cross-section of the diffuse scattering in the H0L plane is an ellipse elongated along the L direction, in reasonable agreement with calculations for the thermal diffuse scattering. The cross section in the HK0 plane has an unexpectedly smooth six-fold sinusoidal modulation.