Growth of a smectic A from a bent nematic phase and the smectic light valve

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Abstract
We show that for certain liquid crystals, characterized by very small nematic/smectic−A latent heats, the transition from a nematic phase, held firmly in a bent state, to a smectic−A phase takes place via an intermediate state which is stable in a given temperature range and which we have called ’’striped texture’’. This state consists of a corrugated layer of bent nematic which is sandwiched between two smectic−A layers whose planes are oriented in two different directions. As the temperature of the sample is further decreased, the ’’striped texture’’ becomes unstable. The corrugated layer undergoes axial buckling leading to the final smectic−A ’’honeycomb texture’’. This texture is the scattering phase of Kahn’s smectic light valve. We explain the occurrences of these phenomena on the basis of elastic and surface energy considerations.