Eutectic liquid crystal mixture E7 in nanoporous alumina. Effects of confinement on the thermal and concentration fluctuations.

The eutectic mixture of liquid crystals E7 is studied in confinement by means of thermal and dielectric measurements. The uniform 1-D confinement provided by self-ordered nanoporous alumina leads to a decrease in the nematic to isotropic transition temperature due to interaction with the pore surface, surface anchoring. The prevalence of certain dynamic modes of relaxation is found to depend on the surface properties of the confining pores.