Title:	Effect of a strong electric field on the reentrant nematic to smectic A $_{\rm d}$ Phase Transition
Authors:	Basappa, Geetha Govind, A.S. Madhusudana, N.V.
Issue Date:	1997
Publisher:	EDP Sciences.
Citation:	Journal de Physique II, 1997, Vol.7, p1693-1707
Abstract:	We report experimental studies on the effect of a strong electric field on the nematic-smectic A $_{\rm d}$ (N-A $_{\rm d}$) and A $_{\rm d}$-reentrant nematic (A $_{\rm d}$-N $_{\rm R}$) phase transitions in a binary mixture. Both the transition temperatures increase with field. The A $_{\rm d}$-N $_{\rm R}$ transition point changes much more rapidly than that of A $_{\rm d}$-N transition, indicating that the A $_{\rm d}$ phase will get bounded at a sufficiently high field. We have included the effect of the electric field in our molecular model of reentrant phases in highly polar compounds, in which the mutual orientation of near neighbour molecules changes from an antiparallel to a parallel configuration as the temperature is lowered. It is argued that the cross-over temperature increases with field which accounts for the observed trends. For suitable parameters, it is also predicted that either a nematic-nematic transition line can branch off from the A $_{\rm d}$-N $_{\rm R}$ line or a smectic A-smectic A transition line can meet the A $_{\rm d}$-N $_{\rm R}$ line at an appropriate field. In the latter case, the A $_{\rm d}$-N $_{\rm R}$ line has an associated slope change which is consistent with the experimental data.
Description:	Restricted Access. Please click on the alternative location for the open-access full text.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/2289/1870
ISSN:	1155-4312 1286-4870 (Online)
Alternative Location:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jp2:1997210
Copyright:	(1997) Les Editions de Physique
Appears in Collections:	Research Papers (SCM)

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