Abstract
Polarising optical microscopy (POM) shows evidence for a reversible uniaxial nematic (NU) to biaxial nematic (NB) phase transition in a quiescent melt of bent-core mesogens (BCM). A second superimposed Schlieren texture, attributed to a second director field, grows into the NU phase on lowering the temperature and disappears again on heating, indicating a fully reversible NB to NU phase transition. This POM result together with recent X-ray data provides a new signature for the NB phase in this class of BCMs, and offers a new method for assessment of new biaxial nematic phases.
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