Phase Behavior of Bent-Core Molecules

Abstract

Recently, a new class of smectic liquid crystal phases (SmCP phases) characterized by the spontaneous formation of macroscopic chiral domains from achiral bent-core molecules has been discovered. We have carried out Monte Carlo simulations of a minimal hard spherocylinder dimer model to investigate the role of excluded volume interations in determining the phase behavior of bent-core materials and to probe the molecular origins of polar and chiral symmetry breaking. We present the phase diagram as a function of pressure or density and dimer opening angle $\psi$. With decreasing $\psi$, a transition from a nonpolar to a polar smectic phase is observed near $\psi =167^{\circ }$, and the nematic phase becomes thermodynamically unstable for $\psi <135^{\circ }$. No chiral smectic or biaxial nematic phases were found.

4 pages Revtex, 3 eps figures (included)

References in corpus (1)

• Monte Carlo Simulation of Liquid-Crystal Alignment and of Chiral Symmetry-Breaking

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