Helix twist inversion in ferroelectric liquid crystals with one chiral centre

Abstract

Abstract The helix twist inversion in the chiral smectic C phase was studied for two new homologous series of lactic acid derivatives. The inversion phenomenon was attributed to a competition between spatial conformers leading to opposite helix handedness. The temperature of inversion was found to increase with increasing length of the chiral molecular tail. With all substances studied, high values of the spontaneous polarization P s were found which did not reach saturation on cooling, in spite of a saturated tilt angle θs.