Soft modes of the dielectric response in the twist-bend nematic phase and identification of the transition to nematic splay bend phase in the dimer CBC7CB

TL;DR

This study investigates the dielectric response of the twist-bend nematic phase in a bent-shaped liquid crystal dimer, identifying relaxation modes and phase transitions, including a transition to a nematic splay bend phase under electric fields.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of dielectric relaxation modes in the twist-bend nematic phase and identifies a transition to a nematic splay bend phase induced by electric fields.

Findings

Identification of a Goldstone mode related to tilt fluctuations.

Observation of a peculiar temperature behavior at the phase transition.

Evidence of a field-induced transition to a nematic splay bend phase.

Abstract

The dielectric spectra of the twist bend nematic phase of the bent shaped achiral liquid crystal dimer are studied for the determination of the different relaxation modes. The two molecular processes were assigned one to the precessional rotation of the longitudinal components of the cyanobiphenyl groups and the second to the spinning rotation of the transverse component of the dimer. The low frequency peak shows a peculiar temperature behavior at the twist bend nematic to nematic transition. This peak can be assigned to a collective fluctuation of the tilt angle of the coarse grained director N with respect the pseudo layer normal. This corresponds well with the electro clinic effect observed as a response to an electric field in electro optic experiments. The low frequency relaxation process can be identified as a Goldstone mode, related to long-scale fluctuation of the cone phase. The birefringence data in the presence of strong bias fields in the temperature range where the twist bend nematic phase is formed is interpreted as unwinding of a helix and an indication of the formation of a field induced nematic splay bend phase.