High pressure studies on ferroelectric liquid crystals

Abstract

Although the first high pressure studies on liquid crystals were carried out almost 100 years ago, the potentialities of using the tool to alter the material properties have been realized only recently. The high pressure experiments carried out at RRI in the last 20 years have played a major role in this knowledge- base. Over the past 3-4 years we have put much emphasis on ferroelectric liquid crystals. The combination of ferroelectricity and fluidity has made these materials attractive not only from the fundamental point of view but for front line applications also. With a high pressure setup specially designed for liquid crystal work, systematic studies on most of the ferroelectric properties have been performed as a function of pressure and temperature. This talk highlights some of the salient results obtained through these experiments.