Thresholdless Antiferroelectricity in a Novel Chiral Swallow-Tailed Liquid Crystal

Abstract

A novel material, 1-ethylpropyl (S)-2-{6-[4-(4‘-decyloxyphenyl)benzoyloxy]-2-naphthyl}propionate, has been designed and synthesized for the study of mesomorphic properties. The results indicated that this material displays a phase sequence of Iso−Bp−N*−TGBA−SA−SCA*−Cr. Further investigation of the antiferroelectric SCA* phase by measurement of the transmittance vs electric field by applying a field of triangular waveform in a 5 μm homogeneously aligned cell showed a typical V-shaped switching at frequency of 0.5 Hz, demonstrating that this phase possesses thresholdless antiferroelectricity.