Giant permittivity in dimethylamino-terminated ferroelectric nematogens

Abstract

Since the recent discoveries, ferroelectric nematics became of upmost interest due to their outstanding ferroelectric properties. In this work, we prepared a series of polar molecules revealing a ferroelectric nematic phase (NF) with a very high dielectric constant (>104). A new motif, which differs from previously reported molecular structures, was optimized to support the NF phase. For all homologues the NF phase was observed directly on the cooling from the isotropic phase and ferroelectric behaviour was investigated by dielectric spectroscopy, second harmonic generation, polarization current measurements and by analysis of textures in the polarized light. The presented materials combine ferroelectricity with giant permittivity in a fluid media at room temperatures, so they appear to be extremely attractive. Polarity of molecules with the strong susceptibility to the electric field represent high potential for various applications in energy-efficient memory devices or capacitors.