Effect of longitudinal dipoles in liquid crystals

Abstract

Molecular-lattice-theory results for rigid cores having partially-flexible tails reveal that it is not necessary to invoke dipolar forces to have stable smectic-${A}_{1}$, smectic-${A}_{d}$, and low-temperature nematic (including reentrant-nematic) liquid-crystal phases. However, dipolar forces increase the stability of these phases in systems with Lennard-Jones interactions. Dipolar forces also shift the temperature ranges of these phases closer to ambient, thus making them easier to discover and observe experimentally.