• Aucun résultat trouvé

Antiferroelectric surface layers in a liquid crystal as observed by synchrotron X-ray scattering

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Partager "Antiferroelectric surface layers in a liquid crystal as observed by synchrotron X-ray scattering"

Copied!
9
0
0

Texte intégral

(1)

HAL Id: jpa-00210252

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/jpa-00210252

Submitted on 1 Jan 1986

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- entific research documents, whether they are pub- lished or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Antiferroelectric surface layers in a liquid crystal as observed by synchrotron X-ray scattering

E.F. Gramsbergen, W.H. de Jeu, J. Als-Nielsen

To cite this version:

E.F. Gramsbergen, W.H. de Jeu, J. Als-Nielsen. Antiferroelectric surface layers in a liquid crys- tal as observed by synchrotron X-ray scattering. Journal de Physique, 1986, 47 (4), pp.711-718.

�10.1051/jphys:01986004704071100�. �jpa-00210252�

(2)

E. F.

Gramsbergen,

W. H. de Jeu

(*)

Solid State Physics Laboratory, Melkweg 1, 9751 EP Groningen, The Netherlands and J. Als-Nielsen

Risø National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark

(Rep le 28 octobre 1985, accepté le 10 dgcembre 1985)

Résumé. - Nous étudions la réflectivité aux rayons X de la surface d’un cristal liquide dont les molécules ont des groupes terminaux polaires (cyano-); l’instrument est un spectromètre 3 axes à haute résolution combiné à

une source de rayonnement synchroton. A la surface de la phase smectique Al, nous observons le développement

de quelques doubles couches antiferroélectriques qui peuvent être distinguées de la structure en simples couches

du matériau massif. Nous développons un modèle qui sépare la densité électronique en un facteur de forme molé- culaire et des facteurs de structures de mono- et bicouches. Avec un nombre restreint de paramètres ajustables,

ce modèle rend compte de la courbe de réflexion observée, qui est fort complexe. Il permet de conclure que (i)

la première couche moléculaire est disposée avec les queues plutôt que les têtes vers la surface, (ii) le paramètre

d’ordre smectique de la première mono- et bicouche est saturé, (iii) l’organisation antiferroélectrique disparait abruptement et non pas exponentiellement.

Abstract. - The X-ray reflectivity form the surface of a liquid crystal with terminally polar (cyano substituted)

molecules has been studied using a high-resolution triple-axis X-ray spectrometer in combination with a syn- chrotron source. It is demonstrated that at the surface of the smectic A1 phase a few antiferroelectric double layers develop that can be distinguished from the bulk single layer structure. A model is developed that separates the electron density in a contribution from the molecular form factor, and from the structure factor of the mono-

and the bilayers, respectively. With only a few adjustable parameters it accounts for the rather complex observed

reflection curve. It shows that (i) the first molecular layer has tails up rather than heads up, (ii) the smectic order parameter of the first mono- and bilayer is saturated, (iii) the antiferroelectric bilayering does decay rather abruptly

and not exponentially.

1. Introduction.

Since the first observation of a smectic A-smectic A

phase

transition

[1],

many

examples

of

SA polymor- phism

have been

reported.

These cases

always

involve

strongly asymmetric elongated

molecules with a

large

terminal

dipole

moment

(-CN

or

-N02

end

substituents). Today

at least four « exotic >>

SA phases

are known

[2].

The most common type of

phase

with

these

compounds

is the socalled

SAd

phase.

Disregard- ing

diffuse

scattering

it

gives

in

X-ray experiments

a Bragg

peak

at

Qo

=

(2 7C//’)

n, where n is the director,

1 the molecular

length

and I l’ 2 L

Apart

from a

possible

reentrant nematic

phase,

with

decreasing

temperature, the

phases SAII Sx

and

SA2

may be

observed. The

SA2 phase

has

long-range antiparallel

correlation of the molecular orientation in

neigh- bouring layers (Fig. la).

It is an antiferroelectric

phase

that

gives

rise to two

Bragg peaks

at

Qo

=

(2 n/0

n

and at

approximately Qo/2.

In the

SA phase

in addition

the

density

modulation shows

phase

fluctuations,

leading

to a

regular

lattice of « kinks » in the

plane

± n

(Fig. lb). Consequently,

the

Bragg

spot at

Qo/2

is

split

into two spots situated off axis

[3].

The

SAI phase

shows a

Bragg

spot

only

at

Qo.

This can be

interpreted

as a « classical >>

SA phase

in which the

up-down

distribution of the molecular orientation is random.

Alternatively

it can be considered as a

Article published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphys:01986004704071100

(3)

712

Fig. 1. - (a) Smectic layering with the orientation of the

aliphatic tail-polar head molecules alternating from layer

to layer. This smectic phase is denoted SA2. (b) In the Sx phase there is a regular domain pattern of up- and down- domains in each layer. (For the sake of clarity the pictures

are drawn for perfect orientational and positional order).

variation on the

SX

structure, in which the lattice of

« kinks » is not

regular.

This paper is concerned with an X-ray

study

of the

surface of a

liquid crystal

around the nematic-smectic Al

phase

transition. It is shown that - contrary

to the bulk - at the surface of the

SAl phase

a

Bragg

peak

develops

at

Qo/2,

which means that at the surface

a series of antiferroelectric double

layers

exist. The

results are discussed

using

a model for the electron

density profile

that can be

separated

into contributions of the molecular from-factor, and structure factors

of mono- and

double-layers, respectively.

The

plan

of the paper is as follows : after a short

description

of the

experiment

in the next section, in section 3 the results are

given.

In section 4 the model is described,

including

the type of fits to the data that can be obtained. Section 5 contains a

concluding

discussion.

2.

Experimental.

The

compound

studied is

which has the

following

sequence of

phase

transi-

tions

[4] :

A

sample

is

prepared

in the form of a

droplet covering

f"Ott.I 2 cm2 of a

glass plate

treated such that n is perpen-

dicular to the

glass plate

as well as to the upper

liquid crystal-air

interface.

The

experiments

have been carried out at HASY-

LAB

(Hamburg),

with a modified

high-resolution triple-axis

spectrometer that has been described elsewhere

[5, 6].

The geometry shown in

figure

2 is

such that the

liquid

surface remains horizontal under all circumstances. The horizontal

synchrotron

beam

Fig. 2. - Scattering diagram and resolution volume for

specular reflection. The angular divergence, e91, of the

incident radiation is determined by the source height (- 2 mm) and the source-to-sample distance (20 m) whereas e62 is determined by the detector slit height (0.20 mm) and

the sample-to-detector distance (620 mm).

is deflected downwards

by

an

angle 0, (spread

in the

vertical direction

A01 ) by Bragg

reflection from a tilted Ge

monocrystal

to

produce

the incident wave vector

kl.

The

height

of the

sample

is controlled such that the beam

always

strikes a fixed

position

of the

sample.

The detector is

placed

behind a narrow slit that accepts radiation at

angles 02 in

the vertical direction and

t/J2 in

the horizontal

(out

of

plane)

direction, with

a

spread A02

and

A4/2, respectively.

As a consequence of translational invariance in the horizontal

plane,

the

scattering

cross-section for

X-rays

that are either

specularly

reflected from the flat surface or

Bragg

scattered from the smectic

layers parallel

to the surface, is

proportional

to

6(Q.,) 6(Qy) [7].

The reso-

lution of the spectrometer tuned to this radiation is indicatetd

by

the

parallelogram

in

figure

2, with

02 = 81

and

t/J2

= 0.

Scattering

from the bulk material

can be monitored

by moving

the detector in the x or z

direction such that

QZ

= 2

k,

sin 0 does not intersect

with the resolution

parallelogram.

3. Results.

The

X-ray reflectivity

of the surface has been measured

as a function of

Q.

with

Qx

=

Qy

= 0, for five tempe-

ratures around the

NSA1 phase

transitions. The

signal

from the bulk, obtained

by making

the same scans with

a

slight

offset in

Q"

was subtracted to ’obtain the surface

reflectivity R(6z)

In order to facilitate com-

parison

with the theoretical

reflectivity

from the model

to be described below, e result has been devided

by

the

reflectivity calculated

from Fresnel’s law,

RF(Q.)-

This

quantity gi s

the

reflectivity

for radia-

tion incident on a

plan r

dielectric

discontinuity,

(4)

The

reflectivity

divided

by

Fresnel’s law,

RZ(Qz)I RF(Qz)

is

depicted

in

figure

3. In this

figure Qz

is the value of the wavevector transfer inside the

liquid crystal,

which is lower than the external value accord-

ing

to

Q’in = Qi out - Q 2.

The

peak

at

6,/6o = 1

with

Qo = 0.215 A-1 corresponds

to the smectic

layers

as a

pretransitional

effect in the nematic

phase

when the

NSAL phase

transition is

approached.

The

corresponding periodicity

is

approximately equal

to

the

length

of a stretched molecule. The

layers

extend

to a

depth çL(T)

below the surface,

with ÇL diverging

at the transition temperature. The scan at the lowest

Fig. 3. - The measured reflectivity R(Q), relative to the calculated Fresnel reflectivity RF(Q), versus wavevector

transfer Q = 2 k sin 0 relative to Qo = 2 x/L = 0.215 A-1,

Notice the logarithmic scale on the ordinate. Data for

each temperature have been displaced by one decade. The

full line is the best least squares fit of a model described in the text.

at

Q.IQO

= 0.55. Since all

peaks

are

asymmetric

each

of them may be

parameterized by

its

position, height,

width and skewness. This would lead

altogether

to

12 parameters to fit the data at each temperature.

We shall in the

following

section describe a

physical

model with much fewer

adjustable

parameters.

4. Model.

We shall first

give

a

qualitative interpretation

of the

data.

At the interface between

liquid

and vapour there will be a

pronounced tendency

for the molecules to

be oriented so the

aliphatic

tail is

pointing

towards

the vapour,

consequently

there will be an oriented top

layer

of molecules.

The nematic

phase

is

susceptible

to smectic A

layering

and since one

layer

is

already

formed at the top, it is followed

by

another

layer

below, a

layer

below that, and so on. The

penetration depth

of such

layers, ÇL’

increases as the temperature

approaches

the nematic-smectic A transition temperature because the

susceptibility

for

layering

becomes more and more

pronounced.

This

layering

appears in the reflection

curve

R(Q)IRF(Q)

as a

peak

around

Q/Qo

= 1 where

Qo

= 2

7c/(one layer thickness).

The

peak

gets

higher

and

sharper

as

ÇL

increases in accordance with the data around

Q/Qo

= 1 in

figure

3.

However, the top

layer

is oriented. If there is a

tendency

for molecules to stick their heads

together

rather than head-tail, then the second

layer

will be

oriented

opposite

to the first

layer.

The two

layers together

form a

bilayer

and

bilayering

will penetrate into the bulk with another

penetration depth çp,

where the index P indicates

polarization,

whereas

index L in

ÇL

indicates

layering.

Since there is no particular response to

polarization

in the nematic

phase

one must expect

çp

to be smaller

than ÇL

and

also to be

roughly independent

of temperature. Since the

period

of

bilayering

is twice as large that for the smectic

layering,

it appears as a

peak

in the reflected

wave around

Q/Qo

= 0.5. Since this wave can interfere either

constructively

or

destructively

with the

ordinary

Fresnel reflected wave, one can with the proper

phases

account for a

peak

around

Q/Qo

0.5 and an anti-

peak »

for

Q/Qo >

0.5 as observed in the reflection

curve.

We shall now cast this

qualitative picture

into a

quantitative

model. To this end we recall the basic

(5)

714

relation between the

reflectivity

and the electron

density :

We shall first consider the electron

density

in a

single

molecule shown in

figure

4a.

Fig. 4. - (a) Position of atoms in the molecule shown in the plane of the molecular-axis and the two benzene rings

closest to the polar head. The third benzene ring is perpen- dicular to the drawing plane and appears as a cross-hatched

strip. The numbers coincide with the indices k in table I.

(b) The electron density around each atom is assumed to be a Gaussian distribution of width a. The resulting density

distribution along the molecular axis relative to the bulk

density is shown.

From

analogy

with similar chemical bonds it seems

plausible

that the two benzene

rings

closest to the

polar

head are

approximately co-planar,

but the

plane

of the third benzene

ring

is turned over about

n/2.

With bond

length

and bond

angles

taken from

space-filling

molecular models, this leads to a

quanti-

tative

projection

of the molecule as shown in

figure

4a.

However, the final results

depend only

very

slightly

on the

assumptions concerning

the relative orienta- tions of the benzene

rings.

The electron

density projected

on the molecular axis is

approximated by

a

superposition

of Gaussians,

Zk( 2 c Q) -1 exp[ - ( - (k)2/2 U2],

centred at the

different atomic

positions (k

in the molecule and with

a

prefactor Zk equal

to the atomic number

(6

for C,

8 for

CH2,

7 for N

etc.).

The width a of the Gaussian is

taken to be 1

A.

The values

of (k

and

Zk

are listed in

table I. The

resulting density/(0

with -

L/2

C

Table I. - Atomic numbers

Zk

and coordinates

Ck of

the atoms and groups in the molecules

investigated.

The indices k coincide with the numbers in

figure

4a.

L/2 normalized to an average value of

unity,

is shown

in

figure

4b.

It should be noted that this

density

also represents the

density

of a

fully polarized layer.

We shall decom-

pose/(0

into its average value of

unity plus

a sym-

metric part

f.(C) plus

an

antisymmetric partJ:a(C) :

where L1 is

unity

for -

L/2

(

L/2

and zero

elsewhere. Such a

decomposition

is useful because the

symmetric

part of

h«()

represents the

density

of a

randomly

oriented layer. It follows then that the anti-

symmetric

part of

f.(C)

must represent the difference between a

completely polarized

and a

randomly

oriented

layer.

Since the master formula for the

reflectivity

is

expressed

in terms of the Fourier trans-

form of the

density p(z)

it is

intuitively

clear that we

(6)

The

integration

limits are between

quotation

marks

because the Gaussian

smearing implies

that the limits extend

beyond - ! Land!

L,

respectively.

In

evaluating C(Q)

and

S(Q)

the Gaussian model of the molecule is

particular

convenient.

Explicit

formulae are

given

below and the functions

C(Q)

and

S(Q)

are shown in

figure

5. It is found that the

shape

of

S(Q)

is

quite

sensitive for the

position

of the

origo

of the

coordinates C

We shall now return to evaluation of the Fourier transform

O(Q),

cf.

equation (1c). Assuming complete

Fig. 5. - The deviation from unity of the normalized molecular electron distribution is decomposed into its symmetric and antisymmetric parts. The corresponding

cosine- and sine-transforms versus wavevector Q/Qo are

shown.

It is now assumed that the

shape

of the

layer density is

invariant and

equal tof,(C)

+

( - 1)"f.(C)

but with

decaying amplitudes

for mono- and

bi-layer

structure :

We then find

The first term

originates

from the average

density p (step-function),

smeared

by

a Gaussian surface fuzzi-

ness due to thermal vibrations and a

phase

factor

exp[iQ,o]

that allows for a

displacement Co

of the step function relative to the

origo

of the molecular

coordinates.

We shall now discuss a convenient mathematical form of the

amplitude

functions

As(n ; ÇL)

and

Aa(n ; çp).

For

clarity

we shall for a moment omit the indices

on A and 03BE. The

simplest

form of

A(n ; Q

would be

However the data, in

particular

for the

bi-layer

cor-

relation function,

require

a more

sophisticated decay

than

just

a

simple exponential.

One reason is that the

amplitude

is at its saturation value of

unity

at the top

layer

and it is therefore natural that the correlation function starts out with a horizontal tangent. One

possibility

is then the function,

or more

general

The

properties

of this function and its Fourier trans- form are discussed in

Appendix

1.

(7)

716

With the

ingredients

of the model described above fits to the

experimental

data can be obtained of

excellent

quality,

as shown as full lines in

figure

3.

The values of the parameters used are

given

in table II.

Table II. - Least-squares

fit

values

of

the parameters in the model described in the text. The

layer

spacing in

the bulk

SAt phase

is

Lo

= 29.2 A. The value

of 03BEL

labelled with an asterix is

in fact

the resolution width.

The index J

of

the decay

function Yj(x)

is given both

for layering (JL)

and

polarization (Jp).

5. Discussion.

The first observations of smectic

layering

free surface in

liquid crystals

in the nematic

phase [6-8]

involved

only

one

layer spacing

and in

comparison

to

figure

3

only

data in the

region

0.9

Q/Qo

1.1 were

important.

These data were

analysed by

a

purely phenomenological

model and the

question

of the

degree

of orientational, or nematic order, at the

surface was not addressed. In the present work the

knowledge

of the structure of the molecules is incor-

porated

into the model of

analysis.

For

comparison

with earlier work let us for a moment

neglect

the

antiferroelectric

layering

and

thereby

the third term

in

equation (7).

The molecular

modelling

is

given by

the cosine transform

C(Q)

in

equation (7)

and the

amplitude

function

As(n ; ÇL)

can then be

interpreted directly.

We find that

A,

=1 for n = 0, the first

layer,

which means that the nematic order parameter is

fully

saturated at the surface. The first and second term in

equation (7) gives

rise to interference between the

ordinary

Fresnel wave

(first term)

due to the dis-

continuity

in refractive index and the wave scattered from the

layered

structure

(second term).

We have

in the present

analysis

as well as in

previous

work

[8]

introduced a

phenomenological phase

factor

exp[iQCO]

between these two waves. In

previous

work

it turned out that the

phase

factor gave rise to a

strongly asymmetric peak

around

Q

=

Qo

with cons-

tructive interference for

Q Qo

and destructive inter- ference for

Q

>

Qo.

The data for the present material does not

display

this

phenomenon

around

Q

=

Qo.

However, the spectrum around

Q/Qo

= 0.5 does

indeed exhibit strong interference effects

arising

from

the antiferroelectric surface

layers.

The molecular

model which has been introduced in the present work enters

solely by

its Fourier transforms

given

in

figure

5. With this model we find the

physically

very

simple

and

appealing

result that the top

layer

has

complete

orientational order

(all

molecules have tails

up)

and in the next

layer

all heads are up. This antiferroelectric

degree

of order

decays

rather

rapidly

as one goes further away from the surface. This

decay

is not

exponential

but is

qualitatively

rather like the

curve labelled J = 5 in

figure

6. The

penetration depth 03BEp

is

only weakly

temperature

dependent

as

shown in table II.

Fig. 6. - The penetration into the bulk of mono-layers

and bi-layers is not a simple exponential but has the charac- teristic shape of a logistic curve which is modelled by the

function Yj(x) shown versus x/J(J + 1). The definition of

YJ(x) is given in equation (A .1 ) in the text

As far as smectic

layering, independent

of orientation of the molecules within a

layer,

is concerned, the

penetration

is much

deeper

and exhibits a strong temperature

dependence.

In

previous

work

[6]

it was

found that the

penetration depth C;L

coincides with the correlation

range C;

for smectic fluctuations in bulk.

This is very

likely

to be true also in the present case, but we have not yet

completed

a

study

of the bulk

properties.

In the bulk one can also observe fluctuation of antiferroelectric double

layers.

It will be

interesting

to compare the bulk correlation range with

jp reported

here.

The r.m.s. values of the

smearing

parameters Us for the surface and a for the molecular electron

density

are

roughly equal.

The values obtained, 4 A

and 4.5

A, respectively,

seem

quite

reasonable.

The value found for

jo

indicates, somewhat sur-

prisingly,

that the actual surface is elevated about 5 A above the first smectic

layer.

Possible

explanations

are :

absorption

of water on the surface, or the presence of

decomposition products

of the molecules, that are

lying

on the surface, or a different molecular confor- mation in the top

layer.

(8)

SAl phase closely SA2 phase,

which is of interest in context with some recent

theoretical models

[8].

Then the

SAl phase

should be

distinguished

from a « classical >>

SA phase.

A

possible

model is an

SAZ

structure with

locally

broken

up-down

symmetry and in addition

phase

fluctuations

similarly

as in the

SA phase,

but

randomly

distributed.

Finally

it should be noted that the present obser- vation of surface double

layers

is also

highly

relevant

for the

interpretation

of

X-ray

results on free

standing

smectic films

[9].

It indicates that below a critical number of smectic

layers

the two surfaces of the film

can induce a

phase

transition.

Acknowledgment.

The authors wish to thank Prof. G.

Heppke (TU, Berlin)

for

providing

them with the substance. The excellent research conditions

provided by Hasylab

are

gratefully acknowledged.

This work form part of the research program of the

« Stichting

voor

Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie »

(Foundation

for Fundamental Research on Matter,

FOM)

and

was made

possible by

financial support from the

« Nederlandse

Organisatie

voor Zuiver

Wetenschap- pelijk

Onderzoek »

(Netherlands Organization

for the

Advancement of Pure Research,

ZWO).

Appendix.

Consider the function

Yj(x)

defined

by

the finite series :

The derivatives of

Yj(x)

are :

Therefore, for J > 0,

Yj(x)

starts out with a horizontal tangent at x = 0 and

decays

with convex curvature

until at x = J the curvature becomes concave. With

increasing

J

higher

and

higher

derivatives of

Yj(x)

vanishes at x = 0 so in terms of the variable

x/(J + 1)

the

shape

gets more and

square-like.

Indeed, the

limiting shape

for J = oo is a square as

immediately

inferred from the

identity

e+x

= E Xj/j !

1

where +

applies

for A =

As and - applies

for A =

Aa.

It is convenient to

interchange

the summation over j

and n

with

in terms of the

complex

variable

where

again

+

applies

for A

= As

and - for A =

Aa.

The summation in

equation (A. 5)

is carried out for

increasing

values

of j starting with j

= 0 :

By differentiating (A. 8)

with respect to a on both sides we obtain

or

By differentiating equation (A. 9)

with respect to a one obtains

s2(Q),

and so on. The

explicit expressions

for

Thus with the

particular

choice of

A(n) given by equations (A. 3)

and (A .1 ) the structure factor, which

in

principle

is a sum over an

infinite

number of

layers,

is evaluated as a

finite

sum of

(J

+

1)

terms.

(9)

718

References

[1] (a) SIGAUD, G., HARDOUIN, F., ACHARD, M. F. and GASPAROUX, H., J. Physique Colloq. 40 (1979) C3- 356 ;

(b) HARDOUIN, F., LEVELUT, A. M. and SIGAUD, G.,

J. Physique 42 (1981) 71.

[2] For a recent review see, for example HARDOUIN, F., LEVELUT, A. M., ACHARD, M. F. and SIGAUD, G.,

J. Chim. Phys. 80 (1983) 53.

[3] In fact the situation is somewhat more complicated

with two types of SÃ phase : LEVELUT, A. M.,

J. Physique Lett. 45 (1984) L-603.

[4] (a) NGUYEN HUU TINH and DESTRADE, C., Mol. Cryst.

Liq. Cryst. Lett. 92 (1984) 257.

(b) HARDOUIN, F., ACHARD, M., DESTRADE, C. and

NGUYEN HUU TINH, J. Physique 45 (1984) 765.

[5] ALS-NIELSEN, J. and PERSHAN, P. S., Nucl. Instrum.

Meth. 208 (1983) 545.

[6] ALS-NIELSEN, J., CHRISTENSEN, F. and PERSHAN, P. S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 48 (1982) 1107.

[7] PERSHAN, P. S. and ALS-NIELSEN, J., Phys. Rev. Lett.

52 (1984) 759.

[8] BAROIS, P., PROST, J. and LUBENSKY, T. C., J. Physique

46 (1985) 391.

[9] (a) MONCTON, D. E. and PINDAK, R., in Ordering in

Two Dimensions, S. K. Sinha, ed. (North-Holland,

New York) p. 83.

(b) COLLETT, J., PERSHAN, P. S., SIROTA, E. B. and SORENSEN, L. B., Phys. Rev. Lett. 52 (1984) 356.

Références

Documents relatifs

are given for the surface order parameter using free energy arguments. The effect of a permanent dipole interaction on the surface tension is considered, and it is

depends on what kind of fluctuations are present in the smectic A phase : layer undulations or molecular tilt. They could of course, in general, occur

Precise measurements of the Kerr effect [6, 9] and magnetic birefringence [6, 7] in the isotropic phase of. some nematic substances have been

It must be remarked that the repulsive image force between the body disclination and the surface counteracts the attractive interaction worked out above..

The renormalization group approach to critical dynamics near the nematic- smectic-A phase transition in liquid crystals... The renormalization group approach to critical dynamics

2014 In this paper we report measurements of the angle 03B8t between the director and the vertical axis at the free surface of the nematic liquid crystals MBBA and

liquid structure factor just above the nematic-smectic C transition. As the temperature is lowered, the peaks in the scattering intensity move off the z-axis and

2014 For a smectic C* liquid crystal near the transition to the A phase the dynamics, which couples the order parameter modulus to the hydrodynamic degrees of