THE DIELECTRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A MATERIAL WITHOUT LAYER SHRINKAGE

The shrinking of smectic layers that occurs in the smectic C phase in most compounds due to the tilt of the molecules creates undesired che vron structures from initially bookshelf layers. The chevrons deterior ate the quality of electrooptic devices based on surface stabilized fe rroelectric liquid crystals. However, some rare material classes seem to exhibit practically no decrease in the layer thickness at the Sm A - Sm C transition and below. One such example is found in some naphta lene based substances. In the present work, we show that such material s exhibit a dielectric behavior manifestly different from that of mate rials which show a decrease in the layer thickness.