Comparative Study of the Optical and Dielectric Anisotropy of a Difluoroterphenyl Dimer and Trimer Forming Two Nematic Phases.

We present a comparative study of the optical and dielectric anisotropy of a laterally fluorinated liquid crystal dimer and its homologous trimer, both exhibiting two nematic phases. In the high-temperature nematic phase, both oligomers exhibit positive optical anisotropy with similar magnitude, which, however, is lower in comparison with the optical anisotropy of the monomer. In the same temperature range, the dielectric permittivity along and perpendicular to the nematic director, measured on magnetically aligned samples, reveals negative dielectric anisotropy for both oligomers, which saturates as the temperature approaches the N-N phase transition temperature.

Dipole-dipole correlations in the nematic phases of symmetric cyanobiphenyl dimers and their binary mixtures with 5CB.

We report on the temperature dependence of birefringence and of the static dielectric permittivity tensor in a series of binary mixtures between the symmetric, bent-shaped, 1'',9''-bis(4-cyanobiphenyl-4'-yl)nonane (CB9CB) dimer and the monomeric nematogen 5CB. In the studied composition range the mixtures exhibit two nematic phases with distinct birefringence and dielectric features. Birefringence measurements are used to estimate the temperature dependence of the tilt between the axis defining the nanoscale helical modulation of the low temperature nematic phase with the (local) direction of the maximal alignment of the cyanobiphenyl units.

Polarisation-driven magneto-optical and nonlinear-optical behaviour of a room-temperature ferroelectric nematic phase.

Nematics with a broken polar symmetry are one of the fascinating recent discoveries in the field of soft matter. High spontaneous polarisation and the fluidity of the ferroelectric nematic phase make such materials attractive for future applications and interesting for fundamental research. Here, we explore the polar and mechanical properties of a room-temperature ferroelectric nematic and its behaviour in a magnetic field.