By diminishing the energy barrier between SC; and SC*, antiferroelectricity has become thresholdless in a threecomponent mixture. It shows V-shaped switching, realizing attractive display characteristics: extremely wide viewing angle with very large contrast ratio, high speed response and ideal analogue grey scale with no hysteresis. A simplified model of the phase with this property is presented.

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Novel antiferroelectric liquid crystals having phenylalkanoate and phenylalkenoate moieties were synthesized and their mesomorphic properties were studied. 4-[2-{1-(Trifluoromethyl)heptyloxycarbonyl}ethyl]phenyl 4'-decyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylate l b exhibited the chiral smectic C, phase at a temperature below the chiral smectic C .phase. Biphenyl-cinnamate derivatives of the three-ring system exhibited a stable mesomorphic phase and enantiotropic smectic C, phase, with the carbon-carbon double bond acting as a mesogenic core.