Abstract
The textures of a smectic C phase in free-standing films of the Schiff base 5O.6 are studied as a function of the number of layers and temperature. Periodic stripes with alternating contrast are observed in SmA boundary layers. On further cooling a transition to the splay stripes occurs in the smectic A temperature interval. In the smectic C phase all the periodic textures disappear, whereas in films with one free boundary a periodic arrangement of splay stripes is found. Mechanisms of symmetry breaking are discussed.
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Pis'ma Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 1, 29–32 (10 July 1996)
Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.
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Demikhov, E.I., Dolganov, V.K. Length scale dependence of chiral symmetry breaking in free-standing films of achiral smectic C. Jetp Lett. 64, 32–36 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.567154
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.567154