Surface Electroclinic Effect in Chiral Smectic-A Liquid Crystals

摘要

The polar interaction between a chiral smectic-A liquid Crystal and a Solidsubstrate results in an induced ferroelectric polarization and chiral reorientation of th director in the liquid Crystal near the surface. Based on an argument similar to that for ferroelectricity in the tilted phases of chiral smectic liquid crystals (LC's), Garoff and Meyer predicted the existence of the electroclinic effect, a chirally symmetric moelcular rotation proportional to the applied electric field in the smectic-A (SA) phase of liquid crystal composed of chiral moelcules. They first experimentally demonstrated the electroclinic effect in p-(decyloxy-benzy-lidene)-p'-amion-(2-methylbutyl)cinnamate (DOBAMBC), and it has since been studied as a probe of critical behavior near the smectic-A to smetic C (SC) transition, and to develop useful electro-optic devices. In this Letter, we report the surface electroclinic effect in the SA phase, a chiral rotation of the SA director away from the layer normal in the vicinity of the LC-solid interface. (js)