Optical and x-ray evidence of the "de Vries" Sm-A*-Sm-C* transition in a non-layer-shrinkage ferroelectric liquid crystal with very weak interlayer tilt correlation.

A non-layer-shrinkage fluorinated ferroelectric liquid crystal compound, 8422[2F3], has been characterized by means of optical, x-ray, and calorimetric methods. The orientational distribution within macroscopic volumes, determined through wide-angle x-ray scattering and birefringence measurements, was found to be identical in the Sm-A* and helical Sm-C* phases. Together with the absence of layer shrinkage, this constitutes strong evidence that the second-order Sm-A*-Sm-C* transition in this material is well described by the diffuse cone model of de Vries. The absolute values of the layer spacing show that the molecules aggregate to antiparallel pairs. The molecular interaction across the layer boundaries will then occur only between fluorine atoms, leading to unusually weak interlayer tilt direction correlation. This explains the experimental observations of a very easily disturbed Sm-C* helix and a peculiar surface-stabilized texture. Tilt angle and birefringence values as a function of field and temperature have been evaluated in the Sm-A* and Sm-C* phases and the results corroborate the conclusions from the x-ray investigations.