Viscoelastic coefficients of glass-forming nematics

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Abstract
In this paper, we report measurements of the viscoelastic properties of nematic liquid crystals which exhibit a glass transition in the nematic phase. We have studied the Freedericksz transition in planar cells with a magneto-optical method. K1 was determined from the critical field, and the rotational viscosity, γ1, from the response time for the director orientation by the external field. We found a temperature dependence of γ1 of the Vogel type, with absolute values ranging over several orders of magnitude, and K 1 values similar to those of conventional thermotropic low molar mass nematics.