Generation of frustrated liquid crystal phases by mixing an achiral nematic-smectic-C mesogen with an antiferroelectric chiral smectic liquid crystal.

By mixing the achiral liquid crystal HOAB, exhibiting a nematic (N)-smectic-C (SmC) mesophase sequence, with the chiral antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) (S,S)-M7BBM7, forming the antiferroelectric SmC(a)(*) phase, at least seven different mesophases have been induced which neither component forms on its own: a twist-grain-boundary (TGB(*)) phase, two or three blue phases, the untilted SmA(*) phase, as well as all three chiral smectic-C-type "subphases," SmC(alpha)(*), SmC(beta)(*), and SmC(gamma)(*). The nature of the induced phases and the transitions between them were determined by means of optical and electro-optical investigations, dielectric spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The induced phases can to a large extent be understood as a result of frustration, TGB(*) at the border between nematic and smectic, the subphases between syn and anticlinic tilted smectic organization. X ray scattering experiments reveal that the smectic layer spacing as well as the degree of smectic order is relatively constant in the whole mixture composition range in which AFLC behavior prevails, whereas both these parameters rapidly decrease as the amount of HOAB is increased to such an extent that no other smectic-C-type phase than SmC/SmC(*) exists. By tailoring the composition we are able to produce liquid crystal mixtures exhibiting unusual phase sequences, e.g., with a direct isotropic-SmC(a)(*) transition or a temperature range of the SmC(beta)(*) subphase of about 50 K.