Layer Tilt Angle of Chevron Structure in Surface-Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Smectic layer structures of some surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal cells were studied using high-resolution X-ray analysis. The cells were constructed of two glass plates coated with a polymer aligning film rubbed in parallel and exhibited a typical chevron layer structure. The correlation between the layer tilt angle and the molecular tilt angle was investigated in detail, taking into account the differences between the molecular tilt and apparent tilt angles. It was confirmed that the layer tilt angle correlated with the molecular tilt angle though it was slightly smaller, and the ratio of the layer tilt angle to the molecular tilt angle gradually decreased as the molecular tilt angle increased.

Photo-dimerization of a chalcone-based side chain polymer for the alignment of ferroelectric liquid crystals

“…In the chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase region, the layer spacing gradually decreased and reached 27.26 Å as the temperature decreased from the SmA-SmC* transition temperature to room temperature. The layer tilt angles were then [29][30][31]. Figure 12 shows the layer tilt angle calculated from the layer spacing as a function of the reduced temperature.…”