Abstract
The molecular arrangements in liquid crystal freestanding films are studied when smectic surface ordering occurs above the bulk smectic A to smectic transition temperature. Details of the resulting structures are resolved using ellipsometry. The behavior of the film is compound dependent. Below a critical electric field, either a synclinic or anticlinic structure may be present depending on the magnitude of the bulk spontaneous polarization. A model is presented in which the low-field anticlinic arrangement results from the interaction between polarization fluctuations at the two surfaces.
- Received 31 May 2000
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.62.8106
©2000 American Physical Society