Dj. Photinos et al., SPONTANEOUS POLARIZATION IN TILTED SMECTICS, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals science and technology. Section A, Molecular crystals and liquid crystals, 292, 1997, pp. 265-276
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.