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Published on: August 15, 2018
Resonant x-ray diffraction spectrum for possible structures of the smectic liquid crystal phase with a six-layer
LiDong Pan1, R Pindak2, C C Huang3
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
Abstract:
With the discovery of the smectic-C(d6)(*) (SmC(d6)(*)) phase showing six-layer periodicity [S. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 027801 (2010)] and a recent report of the observation of a possible alternative structure, the need for a reliable and accurate method for distinguishing different possible structures is more urgent than ever. Through simulations using the tensorial structure factor method, we present the resonant x-ray diffraction (RXRD) spectra for different possible structures as proposed in several theoretical studies. Subtle distinctions between models are shown. The ability and limitations of RXRD as a technique for determining the structure of this particular phase is discussed.
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