Dielectric Study on Ferri-like Ordering in Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystals during the Field-Induced Phase Transition

Abstract

We studied the field-induced ferri-like (FI) ordering in antiferroelectric (AF) liquid crystals based on a simple geometrical model which includes the electrostatic dipolar and quadrupolar interactions between the molecules in two adjacent layers. In this model, the stabilization of the FI ordering during the AF-ferroelectric (FO) transition results from the quadrupolar interactions between the molecules in the nearest neighbor layers. The experimental results for the dielectric behavior at various bias fields near the AF-FI transition temperature are consistent with the theoretical predictions made within the geometrical model.