Birefringence and Order Parameter of Some Alkyl and Alkoxycyanobiphenyl Liquid Crystals

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Abstract
The refractive indices and densities of six liquid crystals—two alkylcyanobiphenyls, three alkoxycyanobiphenyls and one mixture of two alkylcyanobiphenyls have been reported as a function of temperature. The effective polarizabilities αeand αo in the nematic phase calculated using the methods due to Neugebauer, Vuks and Saupe and Maier, are found to be appreciably different, though the order parameter S evaluated with those values of (αe - αo) are in good agreement. The preference of one method over the other two is discussed.