Abstract
The structure and molecular packing of an electroclinic liquid crystal elastomer (ELCE) is examined using X-ray diffraction in an unstressed state, under mechanical load, and in the presence of electric fields of varying strength and opposing polarity. A fully three-dimensional pattern of the unstressed elastomer is constructed revealing a detailed look into the molecular packing. Several expected features have been observed in the elastomer film, including well-ordered smectic layering, chevron formation under increasing mechanical load, and molecular reorientation accompanied by layer contraction in the presence of an electric field. Additional intralayer rearrangements related to the molecular switching in the presence of an electric field have also been observed. A model based on periodic pair distribution functions is presented to explain the X-ray scattering observations under each of the tested conditions, starting with the observation that layer-related diffraction bands cannot simply be indexed a...
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