activity
20242026
collaborators

8 papers

cond-mat.soft2026

Competing ferroelectric and smectic order: modulated structures through molecular design

Grant J. Strachan, Ewa Górecka, Jadwiga Szydłowska +1

We demonstrate that the balance between polar and positional order can be systematically tuned through molecular engineering, providing direct control over the emergence of polar a…

cond-mat.soft2025

Interplay of polar order and positional order in liquid crystals -- observation of re-entrant ferroelectric nematic phase

Grant Strachan, Shona Ramsay, Marijus Juodka +6

We show that development of polar order may spontaneously destroy the lamellar structure of a liquid crystal. This results in an unusual sequence of phases with the ferroelectric n…

cond-mat.soft2025

Twist Grain Boundary phases in proper ferroelectric liquid crystals realm

Damian Pociecha, Jadwiga Szydlowska, Nataša Vaupotič +7

The twist-grain-boundary (TGB) phases, characterized by a periodic, helical arrangement of blocks made of polar smectic phases, SmAF and SmCF, have been discovered. They have been…

cond-mat.mtrl-sci2025

The balance between paraelectricity and ferroelectricity in non-chiral smectic homologs

Dorota Węgłowska, Michał Czerwiński, Robert Dzienisiewicz +4

Non-chiral liquid crystals (LCs) exhibiting ferroelectricity, distinguished by their dynamic responsiveness to external stimuli and high spontaneous polarization, provide renewed i…

cond-mat.soft2025

Spontaneous polar and chiral symmetry breaking in ordered fluids -- heliconical ferroelectric nematic phases

Jakub Karcz, Jakub Herman, Natan Rychłowicz +5

It is known that the chiral interaction described by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DMI) term lead to the plethora of topological structures of magnetic spins, such as helical or skyrmion…

cond-mat.soft2024

Nematic and smectic phases with proper ferroelectric order

Grant J. Strachan, Ewa Górecka, Jadwiga Szydłowska +2

A material showing a sequence of three ferroelectric liquid crystalline phases below the paraelectric nematic phase has been synthesized and studied. The polar order of molecules a…