Condensed Matter Seminar

Abstract: In 1989, the smectic-C_alpha* phase was first identified between the smectic-A and smectic-C* phases by thermal studies on one antiferroelectric liquid crystal compound. Because of its incommensurate nano-scale helical pitch (INHP) structure, the molecular arrangements in the smectic-C_alpha* phase was first identified about 10 years later by our resonant x-ray diffraction studies. Subsequently, among various liquid crystals, different temperature dependences of INHP's along with the magnitude of INHP yield many interesting physical phenomena. A simple free-energy expansion with five expansion terms proposed by our research group provides us with important guides through this research project.