EFFECT OF FREE SURFACES ON THE SMECTIC-A-HEXATIC-B-CRYSTAL-E TRANSITIONS IN THIN FREESTANDING FILMS OF THE LIQUID-CRYSTAL COMPOUND N-HEPTYL-4'-N-PENTYLOXYBIPHENYL-4-CARBOXYLATE (750BC)
R. Geer et al., EFFECT OF FREE SURFACES ON THE SMECTIC-A-HEXATIC-B-CRYSTAL-E TRANSITIONS IN THIN FREESTANDING FILMS OF THE LIQUID-CRYSTAL COMPOUND N-HEPTYL-4'-N-PENTYLOXYBIPHENYL-4-CARBOXYLATE (750BC), Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 48(1), 1993, pp. 408-427
An ac free-standing film calorimeter has been recently developed to in
vestigate the physical properties of the smectic-A-hexatic-B-crystal-E
transitions in free-standing films of the liquid-crystal compound n-h
eptyl-4'-n-pentyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylate (75OBC). Due to the surface
-enhanced order on free surfaces, we have discovered many new physical
phenomena, e.g., a rich phase diagram, layer-by-layer transitions nea
r a continuous transition, an interplay between a strong first-order s
urface transition and a nearby continuous transition, etc.