Dynamic Properties of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Liquid Crystals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 1000

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
2. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Technological University Dublin, Dublin 7, D07 EWV4 Dublin, Ireland
Interests: ferroelectric smectic liquid crystals; bent-core liquid crystals; nematic liquid crystals; helix; dynamics; relaxation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals (FLCs) are a unique example of ferroelectricity in liquid subphases.  The existence of spontaneous polarization in such systems leads to new dynamic and switching properties due to the linear interaction with electric fields. Ferroelectricity was initially predicted and observed in chiral-tilted smectic phase SmC* almost half century ago, when dynamic behaviour was infectively studied using number of experimental techniques, including electro-optic and dielectric spectroscopy.  Since then, ferroelectricity has been exclusively attributed to molecular chirality.  However, relatively recently, ferroelectricity was observed in non-chiral LC systems such as bent-core smectic and even nematic phases.  Some of these phases show giant permittivity in the order of ~10000, which is governed by molecular dynamics, opening a new area of FLC application as hyper-paraelectric media for supercapacitors.

In this Special Issue, we will publish recent advances and developments in the dynamic properties of FLCs, including traditional chiral and novel non-chiral LCs.

Dr. Yuri Panarin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • ferroelectric smectic liquid crystals
  • bent-core liquid crystals
  • nematic liquid crystals
  • helix
  • dynamics
  • relaxation

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

32 pages, 13090 KiB  
Review
Ferroelectric Smectic Liquid Crystals
by Atsushi Yoshizawa
Crystals 2024, 14(4), 350; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst14040350 - 07 Apr 2024
Viewed by 739
Abstract
Since the discovery of the first ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in the chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase, ferroelectricity in liquid crystals has attracted much attention due to not only the fundamental interest but also the applications. This review focuses on the evolution of [...] Read more.
Since the discovery of the first ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in the chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase, ferroelectricity in liquid crystals has attracted much attention due to not only the fundamental interest but also the applications. This review focuses on the evolution of the design concept for ferroelectric smectic liquid crystals. It progresses from considering macroscopic phase symmetry to designing intermolecular interactions. For the purpose of understanding the molecular organization in smectic phases, we propose a dynamic model of constituent molecules in the smectic A (SmA) and SmC* phases based on 13C NMR studies. Then, we follow the structure–property relationship in ferroelectric SmC* liquid crystals for FLC displays. We reconsider de Vries-like materials that can provide defect-free alignment. We pay attention to the electro-optical switching in the chiral de Vries smectic A phase. Finally, we show several liquid crystals exhibiting polar smectic A phases and discuss how the polar order occurs in the highest symmetric smectic A phase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Properties of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals)
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