Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3486
Title: Anomalous temperature dependence of elastic constants in the nematic phase of binary mixtures made of rodlike and bent-core molecules
Authors: Kundu, Brindaban
Pratibha, R.
Madhusudana, N.V.
Issue Date: Dec-2007
Publisher: The American Physical Society
Citation: Physical Review Letters, 2007, Vol.99, 247802
Abstract: We report on two anomalous trends in the temperature dependences of the splay (K11) and bend (K33) elastic constants in the nematic (N) phase of mixtures of compounds with rodlike (R) and bent-core (BC) molecules: As the sample is cooled from the isotropic to N transition point, (i) K33 increases, attains a maximum value and then decreases, and (ii) close to the N to smectic A (SmA) transition point, K11 decreases sharply. At higher temperatures the bow axes of BC molecules are aligned along the director n^, strongly favoring a bend distortion of n^ as the orientational order parameter is increased. Close to the N-SmA transition point the smecticlike short-range order builds up, and the arrow axes of BC molecules are aligned along n^, facilitating a splay distortion of n^. A simple model calculation brings out the anomalous trend in K33.
Description: Open Access.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/3486
ISSN: E-ISSN: 1079-7114
P-ISSN: 0031-9007
Alternative Location: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.247802
Copyright: 2007 The American Physical Society
Appears in Collections:Research Papers (SCM)

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