Modulated Anti-Ferroelectric Smectic Phases with Orthogonal and Tilted Structures

TL;DR

This paper reveals a new modulated anti-ferroelectric smectic phase with density variations and complex electric field responses, expanding understanding of polar liquid crystalline phases.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel modulated anti-ferroelectric smectic phase with density modulation and demonstrates its robustness and unique electric field behavior.

Findings

Density modulation of 10-20 nm observed in the phase

Existence of a new tilted anti-ferroelectric phase

Distinct electric field response compared to other polar LC phases

Abstract

The discovery of the ferroelectric nematic phase has brought with it a plethora of new polar liquid crystalline phases. One in particular is the anti-ferroelectric smectic A SmA\textsubscript{AF} phase. In this letter we show via observation and analysis of satellite peaks in the X-ray scattering pattern that the structure of the SmA\textsubscript{AF} phase involves a density modulation of $\approx$10-20 nm lateral to the smectic layer normal. Further, we demonstrate a previously undiscovered phase where the anti-ferroelectric order is maintained into a tilted smectic phase demonstrating the robustness of the underlying frustration that leads to the modulated structure. We suggest that the modulations are only in a single dimension and appear parallel to the tilt plane. This new phase also shows a significantly different and complex response to an electric field from other discovered polar LC phases due to the ability to modulate both tilt and polarisation direction.