First-principles experimental demonstration of ferroelectricity in a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal: Polar domains and striking electro-optics

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Xi ChenN A Clark

Abstract

We report the experimental determination of the structure and response to applied electric field of the lower-temperature nematic phase of the previously reported calamitic compound 4-[(4-nitrophenoxy)carbonyl]phenyl2,4-dimethoxybenzoate (RM734). We exploit its electro-optics to visualize the appearance, in the absence of applied field, of a permanent electric polarization density, manifested as a spontaneously broken symmetry in distinct domains of opposite polar orientation. Polarization reversal is mediated by field-induced domain wall movement, making this phase ferroelectric, a 3D uniaxial nematic having a spontaneous, reorientable polarization locally parallel to the director. This polarization density saturates at a low temperature value of ∼6 µC/cm2, the largest ever measured for a fluid or glassy material. This polarization is comparable to that of solid state ferroelectrics and is close to the average value obtained by assuming perfect, polar alignment of molecular dipoles in the nematic. We find a host of spectacular optical and hydrodynamic effects driven by ultralow applied field (E ∼ 1 V/cm), produced by the coupling of the large polarization to nematic birefringence and flow. Electrostatic self-interaction of the...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 17, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Oleg D Lavrentovich
Feb 20, 2021·Physical Review. E·E I Kats
Mar 7, 2021·Micromachines·Rowan MorrisMamatha Nagaraj
May 30, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Xi ChenNoel A Clark
Oct 14, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Xiuhu ZhaoSatoshi Aya
Oct 19, 2021·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Jinxing LiMingjun Huang

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
light microscopy

Software Mentioned

POLAR
NONPOLAR
POL
APPLE
NONPOL

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