Dielectric Relaxation in Liquid Crystal Phases with Polar Order.

Dielectric properties of a chiral smectic liquid crystal exhibiting ferroelectric and antiferroelectric forms of dipole order have been studied in the frequency range 10 Hz ÷ 1 MHz. Three relaxation bands were found in the hexatic ferroelectric phase and in the antiferroelectric phase, and six bands in the apparently ferrielectric state. The number of relaxation processes observed in the studied frequency range reduces to one in the smectic C α * and A phases. The results of measurement suggest that phases exhibiting ferrielectric properties might be in fact a mixture of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric clusters. This mixed state is stabilized by surface interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]