Anomalous Behaviour of the Spontaneous Polarization of Ferroelectric, SmC* Liquid Crystals

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Abstract
A generalized, dimensionless Landau model of the ferroelectric, SmC* phase is presented. The equations governing the tilt, polarization and pitch of ferroelectric, SmC* liquid crystals are given. It is shown that the solutions of these equations agree with available experimental data. It is also shown that the introduction of a biquadratic coupling between tilt and polarization in the Landau expansion of the free-energy density, which is an essential pan of the model, implies a cross-over behaviour of the polarization when plotted as function of temperature. This cross-over is essential when understanding the connection between the behaviour of the pitch, the ratio polarization/tilt and the polarization versus temperature.