Spontaneous Twist of Ferroelectric Smectic Blocks in Polar Fluids
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866910871432724480 |
|---|---|
| author | Nishikawa, Hiroya Okumura, Yasushi Kwaria, Dennis Nihonyanagi, Atsuko Araoka, Fumito |
| author_facet | Nishikawa, Hiroya Okumura, Yasushi Kwaria, Dennis Nihonyanagi, Atsuko Araoka, Fumito |
| contents | In soft matter, the polar orientational order of molecules can facilitate the coexistence of structural chirality and ferroelectricity. The ferroelectric nematic (NF) state, exhibited by achiral calamitic molecules with large dipole moments, serves as an ideal model for the emergence of spontaneous structural chirality. This chiral ground state arises from a left- or right-handed twist of polarization due to depolarization effects. In contrast, the ferroelectric smectic state, characterized by a polar lamellar structure with lower symmetry, experiences significantly higher energy associated with layer-twisting deformations and the formation of domain walls, thus avoiding a continuously twisted layered structure. In this study, we develop two types of achiral molecules (BOE-NO2 and DIOLT) that possess different molecular structure but exhibit a NF-ferroelectric smectic phase sequence. We demonstrate that the chiral ground state of NF is inherited in the ferroelectric smectic phases of BOE-NO2, which features larger dipole moments and a steric hindrance moiety, thereby triggering the formation of the twisted polar smectic blocks. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_03319 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spontaneous Twist of Ferroelectric Smectic Blocks in Polar Fluids Nishikawa, Hiroya Okumura, Yasushi Kwaria, Dennis Nihonyanagi, Atsuko Araoka, Fumito Soft Condensed Matter In soft matter, the polar orientational order of molecules can facilitate the coexistence of structural chirality and ferroelectricity. The ferroelectric nematic (NF) state, exhibited by achiral calamitic molecules with large dipole moments, serves as an ideal model for the emergence of spontaneous structural chirality. This chiral ground state arises from a left- or right-handed twist of polarization due to depolarization effects. In contrast, the ferroelectric smectic state, characterized by a polar lamellar structure with lower symmetry, experiences significantly higher energy associated with layer-twisting deformations and the formation of domain walls, thus avoiding a continuously twisted layered structure. In this study, we develop two types of achiral molecules (BOE-NO2 and DIOLT) that possess different molecular structure but exhibit a NF-ferroelectric smectic phase sequence. We demonstrate that the chiral ground state of NF is inherited in the ferroelectric smectic phases of BOE-NO2, which features larger dipole moments and a steric hindrance moiety, thereby triggering the formation of the twisted polar smectic blocks. |
| title | Spontaneous Twist of Ferroelectric Smectic Blocks in Polar Fluids |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.03319 |