Abstract:
Nonlinear dielectric response of antiferroelectric liquid crystals has been studied in the smectic Cα* (SmCα*) phase. The linear dielectric spectrum shows a single relaxation of Debye type and its relaxation frequency is as high as one hundred kHz. The profile of the third-order nonlinear dielectric spectrum varies in complex fashion with temperature. In the vicinity of the SmA-SmCα* phase transition, experimentally obtained nonlinear spectra are well described by those calculated with phenomenological theory of Landau type. The soft mode of the SmCα* phase shows critical slowing-down near the transition temperature. In the lower-temperature region of the SmCα* phase, the contribution from the soft mode of the SmCα* phase reduces and the other relaxation mode with Debye-type spectrum appears at several hundred Hz in the nonlinear spectrum. The appearance of this low-frequency mode suggests that the cooperative fluctuation of directors over long range exists in the SmCα* phase.
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Received 19 April 2002 and Received in final form 23 July 2002
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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2002-10093-1.
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Kimura, Y., Isono, H. & Hayakawa, R. Nonlinear dielectric response of antiferroelectric liquid crystals in the smectic Cα * phase. Eur. Phys. J. E 9, 3–13 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2002-10045-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2002-10045-9