Novel sulphur-containing banana-shaped liquid crystal molecules

In this preliminary report we present the mesomorphic properties and electr o-optic investigations of three new 'banana-shaped' mesogens. The materials are structurally similar to Niori's the original bent-core materials but p ossess alkylthio substituents in place of alkoxy substituents. Microscopic investigations revealed an unusual 'spiral-domain texture', similar to that observed in the 'B-7' phase of related materials. Further investigations s upport our earlier observations that the materials display antiferroelectri c switching in this phase, in two of the new materials studied. The nature of this phase, in comparison with the 'switchable' (B-2) and 'chiral-domain ' (B-4) phases of the original materials, is discussed.