The correlation between molecuar structure and electrooptic performance is studied for two series of ferroelectric liquid crystalline materials. The first series (Series I) consist of siloxy units attached to the hydrocarbon chin at the non-chiral end of the molecule; while the second series (series 2) contain only hydrocarbon chains at the end of the molecule. Series 1 exhibit chiral smectic A (SmA) and smectic C (SmC~*). It is observed t hat slight modifications in either the siloxy or the hydrocarbon chain length has strong effect on the electro-optic properties. Increasing the number of siloxy unit in the chain (Series 1) increases the temperature range of SmA, and reduces the SmA-SmC~* transition temperature.
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