Structural Characterization of Various Chiral Smectic-{ital C} Phases by Resonant X-Ray Scattering

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1015· OSTI ID:639177

Mach, P; Huang, C C ^[1]; Pindak, R ^[2]; Levelut, A ^[3]; Barois, P; Nguyen, H T ^[4]; Furenlid, L ^[5]

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1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)
2. Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 (United States)
3. Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Univ. Paris-Sud, F-91405 Orsay (France)
4. Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux I, Avenue A. Schweitzer, F-33600 Pessac (France)
5. NSLS, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)

We report the results of resonant x-ray diffraction at the sulfur K -edge performed upon free-standing films of a thiobenzoate liquid-crystal compound. Our data provide the first direct structural evidence of distinct periodicities in several chiral Sm-C phases, including 2-layer, 3-layer, and 4-layer superlattices in Sm-C{sup *}{sub A} , Sm-C{sup *}{sub FI1} , and Sm-C{sup *}{sub FI2} , respectively. In Sm-C{sup *}{sub {alpha} } , periodicity incommensurate with the layer spacing was detected. The racemic compound version was also studied. The results are consistent with a {open_quotes}clock model{close_quotes} of the Sm-C{sup *} variant structures. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 639177
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 81; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
66 PHYSICS
CHIRALITY
FILMS
LIQUID CRYSTALS
ORIENTATION
PHASE STUDIES
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SUPERLATTICES
X-RAY DIFFRACTION