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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
DH(*) in chiral smectics under electric field
C Meyer1, C Rabette2, P Gisse2
1Laboratoire de Physique des Systèmes Complexes, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue Saint-Leu, 80039, Amiens, France. claire.meyer@u-picardie.fr.
Abstract:
The behavior of double helices (DH(*) formed in the temperature interval N(*) -SmA(*) in compounds of non-chiral liquid crystals doped with chiral molecules was investigated. Two different systems presenting left-handed and right-handed chirality were studied. A statistics of the handedness of the DH(*) revealed a correlation with the mixture chirality, as predicted theoretically in C. Meyer, Yu. A. Nastishin, M. Kleman, Phys. Rev. E 82, 031704 (2010). By applying a gradually increasing AC electric field, one can observe the shrinking of the cylinder circumscribing the DH(*) . This shrink is accompanied by a reduction of the DH(*) 's pitch. This effect was similar to the one produced by the decrease of temperature in the absence of the field.
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