Liquid crystals

Molecular dynamics investigation of the helical structure of smectic $C^*$

M. A. Korshunov, A. V. Shabanov

L. V. Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk

Abstract: The numerical simulation of the behavior of the molecules of the DOBAMBC liquid crystal by the molecular dynamics method allowed us to find the change of the the conformation of molecules as a function of temperature and to reveal the helical structures with various pitches in the smectic phase $C^*$. These results explained the anomalous temperature dependences of the order parameter at the molecular level, as well as the optical second harmonic generation in the region of smectic $A$.

Received: 28.11.2011
Accepted: 11.01.2012

 English version: Physics of the Solid State, 2012, 54:8, 1704–1708

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