Antiferroelectric achiral mesogenic polymer

Abstract

X-ray structure determination and pyroelectric measurements have been carried out on mesogenic mixtures composed of an achiral side-chain polymer and its monomer. The mixtures show antiferroelectric polarization hysteresis loops in the mesophase which was shown to be a bilayered smectic C. The results obtained on polymer-monomer mixtures are interpreted in terms of the smectic C structure with alternating tilt which, from a symmetry standpoint, is allowed to be antiferroelectric.