Investigation of the apparently thresholdless behaviour in the high temperature range of an antiferroelectric liquid crystal mixture

In this paper we present a novel experimental investigation of the high tem perature range of antiferroelectric liquid crystals. We find that in thin c ells the SmC* phase is lost and a direct transition, apparently second orde r, occurs between the SmC*(A) and the SmA*. This is accompanied by a large electroclinic effect.