The inverse electromechanical effect in mechanically oriented<i>S</i>^*_C-elastomers examined by means of an ultra-stable Michelson interferometer

Abstract

Abstract An ultra-stable Michelson interferometer is described which enables to measure periodic displacements (of a mirror in one interferometer arm) with a resolution of less than 100 fm. This setup is employed to measure the (linear) inverse piezoelectric and the (quadratic) electrostrictive effect in macroscopically oriented ferroelectric liquid crystalline elastomers (FLCE). A pronounced temperature dependence of the electromechanical effects is observed. Superposition of a DC-bias field leads to a strong enhancement of the inverse piezoelectric effect being well comparable in its strength with classical piezoceramics (BaTiO3, PZT, etc.). The molecular mechanisms of the observed effects are discussed.