X-ray cross-correlation analysis of liquid crystal membranes in the vicinity of hexatic-smectic phase transition

Abstract

We present an x-ray study of liquid crystal membranes in the vicinity of hexatic-smectic phase transition by means of angular x-ray cross-correlation analysis (XCCA). By applying two-point angular intensity cross-correlation functions to the measured series of diffraction patterns the parameters of bond-orientational (BO) order in hexatic phase were directly determined. The temperature dependence of the positional correlation lengths was analyzed as well. The obtained correlation lengths show larger values for the higher-order Fourier components of BO order. These findings indicate a strong coupling between BO and positional order that has not been studied in detail up to now.

7 pages, 3 figures, 25 references

References in corpus (5)

• X-ray cross-correlation analysis and local symmetries of disordered systems. I. General theory
• X-ray cross-correlation analysis applied to disordered two-dimensional systems
• Coherence properties of focused X-ray beams at high brilliance synchrotron sources
• Solution of the phase problem for coherent scattering from a disordered system of identical particles
• X-ray cross-correlation analysis of disordered systems: potentials and limitations

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Angular x-ray cross-correlation analysis (AXCCA): Basic concepts and recent applications to soft matter and nanomaterials
• Detecting Orientational Order in Model Systems by X-ray Cross Correlation Methods
• Local structure of semicrystalline P3HT films probed by nanofocused coherent x-rays
• Spatially resolved x-ray studies of liquid crystals with strongly developed bond-orientational order
• Direct reconstruction of the two-dimensional pair distribution function in systems with angular correlations
• Evidence of a first-order smectic -- hexatic transition and its proximity to tricritical point in smectic films
• Ultrafast Structural Dynamics of Photo-Reactions Revealed by Model-Independent X-ray Cross-Correlation Analysis
• Spatial properties of $\pi -\pi$ conjugated network in semicrystalline polymer thin films studied by intensity x-ray cross-correlation functions