Dimethylamino terminated ferroelectric nematogens revealing high permittivity

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of new ferroelectric nematic molecules with extremely high dielectric constants, combining ferroelectricity and giant permittivity at room temperature, promising for energy-efficient devices.

Contribution

Introduction of a novel molecular motif supporting ferroelectric nematic phases with record-high permittivity, advancing ferroelectric liquid crystal materials.

Findings

High dielectric constant (>10^4) in ferroelectric nematic phases.

Direct observation of the nematic phase upon cooling from isotropic state.

Potential applications in energy-efficient memory and capacitor devices.

Abstract

Since the recent discoveries, ferroelectric nematics became of upmost interest due to their outstanding ferroelectric properties. In this work, we prepared a series of polar molecules revealing a ferroelectric nematic phase (NF) with a very high dielectric constant (>104). A new motif, which differs from previously reported molecular structures, was optimized to support the NF phase. For all homologues the NF phase was observed directly on the cooling from the isotropic phase and ferroelectric behaviour was investigated by dielectric spectroscopy, second harmonic generation, polarization current measurements and by analysis of textures in the polarized light. The presented materials combine ferroelectricity with giant permittivity in a fluid media at room temperatures, so they appear to be extremely attractive. Polarity of molecules with the strong susceptibility to the electric field represent high potential for various applications in energy-efficient memory devices or capacitors.