Thermodynamical, electrical and electro-optical studies of a room temperature tri-component antiferroelectric liquid crystalline material

Thermodynamic and electric studies show the wide room temperature range antiferroelectric SmC*a (91.1 to −20.0 oC) phase in addition to narrow temperature range paraelectric SmA* (∼2.1 oC) and ferroelectric SmC* (∼4.3 oC) phases in thestudied antiferroelectric material. Frequency-dependent dielectric studies show five different relaxation modes appearing in SmA*, SmC* and SmC*a phases under the planar anchoring condition of the molecules. The ferroelectric SmC* to paraelectric SmA* transition temperature has been found to be 97.3 oC using Curie–Weiss law. The dielectric response of SmC*a phase exhibits three relaxation modes in addition to Goldstone mode in SmC* phase and soft mode in SmA* phase. Polarizations, switching time and rotational viscosity have also been determined. Maximum value of polarization (P) is ∼300 nC/cm2. Switching time is the order of few milliseconds.