Evidence of a first-order smectic-hexatic transition and its proximity to a tricritical point in smectic films

Ivan A. Zaluzhnyy, Ruslan P. Kurta, Nastasia Mukharamova, Young Yong Kim, Ruslan M. Khubbutdinov, Dmitry Dzhigaev, Vladimir V. Lebedev, Elena S. Pikina, Efim I. Kats, Noel A. Clark, Michael Sprung, Boris I. Ostrovskii, and Ivan A. Vartanyants
Phys. Rev. E 98, 052703 – Published 16 November 2018

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical studies of a smectic-A–hexatic-B transition in freely suspended films of thickness 210μm of the n-pentyl-4n-pentanoyloxy-biphenyl-4-carboxylate (54COOBC) compound are presented. X-ray investigations revealed a discontinuous first-order transition into the hexatic phase. The temperature region of two-phase coexistence near the phase transition point diminishes with decreasing film thickness. The width of this temperature region as a function of the film thickness was derived on the basis of a Landau mean-field theory in the vicinity of a tricritical point (TCP). Close to TCP the surface hexatic-B order penetrates anomalously deep into the film interior.

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  • Received 1 June 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.98.052703

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Ivan A. Zaluzhnyy1,2, Ruslan P. Kurta3, Nastasia Mukharamova1, Young Yong Kim1, Ruslan M. Khubbutdinov1,2,4, Dmitry Dzhigaev1, Vladimir V. Lebedev5,6, Elena S. Pikina4,5,*, Efim I. Kats5, Noel A. Clark7,8, Michael Sprung1, Boris I. Ostrovskii4,9,†, and Ivan A. Vartanyants1,2,‡

  • 1Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestraße 85, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
  • 2National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Kashirskoe shosse 31, 115409 Moscow, Russia
  • 3European XFEL GmbH, Holzkoppel 4, D-22869 Schenefeld, Germany
  • 4Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Ossipyan str. 2, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia
  • 5Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. akademika Semenova 1-A, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia
  • 6National Research University Higher School of Economics, Myasnitskaya ul. 20, 101000 Moscow, Russia
  • 7Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 8Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
  • 9Federal Scientific Research Center “Crystallography and photonics”, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii prospect 59, 119333 Moscow, Russia

  • *Corresponding author: elenapikina@itp.ac.ru
  • Corresponding author: ostrenator@gmail.com
  • Corresponding author: ivan.vartaniants@desy.de

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 5 — November 2018

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