INFLUENCE OF THE ELECTRIC-FIELD ON THE QUASI-BOOKSHELF STRIPE DEFORMATION IN AN ELECTROCLINIC LIQUID-CRYSTAL

A quantitative study of the effect of electric field on the stripe dom ains formed by layer deformation in chiral smectic A liquid crystals i s presented. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the angle between t he layer normals in adjacent stripe domains increases with increasing electric field. A simple model is presented to derive the true molecul ar tilt angle from optical transmission measurements. The relationship between the optical tilt angle and the tilt angle evaluated from x-ra y measurements of the smectic layer thickness indicates that the molec ules are tilting as rigid rods. (C) 1994 American Institute of Physics .