SMECTIC LAYER ROTATION IN FERROELECTRIC LIQUID-CRYSTALS

The smectic layer rotation in ferroelectric liquid crystals has been o bserved by applying an asymmetric waveform of electric field using bot h a rubbed cell and a nontreated cell. The rotation angle increases ex ceeding the tilt angle with increasing cycles of applied voltage. The direction of the smectic layer rotation depends on the sign of spontan eous polarization. The layer rotation should be a common phenomenon in ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals.