SPONTANEOUS POLARIZATION IN TILTED SMECTICS

The rapid electro-optic response of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC s)-spontaneously polar phases-makes them candidates for the next gener ation of liquid crystal displays and a considerable effort has been un derway to establish design rules for synthesizing more responsive mate rials. Herein we describe the key features of a simple theory [D. J. P hotinos and E. T. Samulski, Science, 270, 783 (1995)] which suggests t hat polarity is indigenous to tilted smectics and not a consequence of mesogen electrostatic attributes, e.g, dipole moment and/or molecular chirality. We suggest classes of prototypical FLCs and NMR experiment s which could critically test the theory.