Proton Spin-Lattice Relaxation in the Nematic Liquid Crystal MBBA

Abstract
In the nematic phase of p-methoxy benzylidene p-n-butylaniline, an increase in the proton spin-lattice relaxation time was observed over a small temperature range above 21 °C. It is proposed that this indicates that additional anisotropic fluctuations, associated with the onset of a biaxial phase, contribute to the proton spin-lattice relaxation in the region of 21 °C. A low frequency collective mode, ω s∼50 sec−1, relaxes the dipolar reservoir in the nematic phase. In the isotropic phase at ω L/2π = 15 MHz translation diffusion is the dominant relaxation mechanism.

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