Heliconical smectic phases formed by achiral molecules
arXiv:1708.08632 · doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02626-6
Abstract
A series of asymmetric dimers with an odd number of atoms in the spacer were found to form different types of twisted structures despite being achiral. The formation of a variety of helical structures is accompanied by a gradual freezing of molecular rotation. The tight pitch heliconical nematic (NTB) phase and heliconical tilted smectic C (SmCTB) phase are formed. In the lowest temperature smectic phase, HexI, the twist is expressed through the formation of hierarchical structure: nano-scale helices and mesoscopic helical filaments. The short pitch helical structure in smectic phases is confirmed by resonant x-ray measurements.
References in corpus (4)
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- Ferri- and Ferro-Electric Switching in Spontaneously Chiral Polar Liquid Crystals
- Undulations of smectic A layers in achiral liquid crystals manifested as stripe textures
- Induced smectic ordering and blue phase formation in mixtures of cyanobiphenyls and cholesterol esters
- Rapid Conformational Analysis of Semi-Flexible Liquid Crystals