ELECTRIC BIREFRINGENCE IN THE ISOTROPIC-PHASE OF A LIQUID-CRYSTAL COMB-SHAPED POLYMER

This paper discusses the electric birefringence (the Kerr effect) of t hree fractions of a. comb-shaped polymer with cyanobiphenyl mesogenic groups. It is established that there are two relaxation processes in a n isotropic melt of the mesogen close to the transition temperature to the nematic phase. The pretransitional electrooptic properties of all the fractions of the polymer are described in terms of the Landau-de Gennes model. The kinetic parameters of the isotropic and nematic phas es are compared. (C) 1997 The Optical Society of America.