A molecular perspective on the emergence of long-range polar order from an isotropic fluid
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866915016894054400 |
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| author | Erkoreka, Aitor Sebastián, Nerea Mertelj, Alenka Martinez-Perdiguero, Josu |
| author_facet | Erkoreka, Aitor Sebastián, Nerea Mertelj, Alenka Martinez-Perdiguero, Josu |
| contents | The ferroelectric nematic phase (N$_{\text{F}}$) has quickly become the most studied system in liquid crystal research. In this work, we investigate the origin of such polar structure by studying a compound for which the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase directly follows the isotropic liquid phase on cooling, making it a particularly interesting system. Our experimental results evidence the presence of polar correlations already in the high-temperature phase, in which ferroelectric order can be induced under a sufficiently strong electric field. In the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase, molecular dynamics and polar correlations are investigated through detailed dynamic dielectric measurements, while second harmonic generation experiments evidence a large value of the main coefficient of the second order dielectric susceptibility tensor. Lastly, experimentally determined parameters are employed for calculations based on a recently proposed theoretical model for the stability of the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase. The obtained results suggest that the parallel alignment of dipoles is driven by a subtle interplay between electrostatic and excluded volume interactions. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_10965 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A molecular perspective on the emergence of long-range polar order from an isotropic fluid Erkoreka, Aitor Sebastián, Nerea Mertelj, Alenka Martinez-Perdiguero, Josu Soft Condensed Matter The ferroelectric nematic phase (N$_{\text{F}}$) has quickly become the most studied system in liquid crystal research. In this work, we investigate the origin of such polar structure by studying a compound for which the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase directly follows the isotropic liquid phase on cooling, making it a particularly interesting system. Our experimental results evidence the presence of polar correlations already in the high-temperature phase, in which ferroelectric order can be induced under a sufficiently strong electric field. In the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase, molecular dynamics and polar correlations are investigated through detailed dynamic dielectric measurements, while second harmonic generation experiments evidence a large value of the main coefficient of the second order dielectric susceptibility tensor. Lastly, experimentally determined parameters are employed for calculations based on a recently proposed theoretical model for the stability of the N$_{\text{F}}$ phase. The obtained results suggest that the parallel alignment of dipoles is driven by a subtle interplay between electrostatic and excluded volume interactions. |
| title | A molecular perspective on the emergence of long-range polar order from an isotropic fluid |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.10965 |