Abstract
Three experimental probes have been employed to investigate the nature of the smectic-–smectic- () phase transition of one liquid-crystal compound showing almost no layer-shrinkage effect through the transition. Results from both x-ray diffraction and optical studies indicate that the compound exhibits a crossover behavior of different molecular packing arrangements within the bulk phase window. The calorimetry results show a significant critical anomaly near the transition, although it was found to be weakly first order.
- Received 12 December 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.69.041702
©2004 American Physical Society