Dynamic light scattering study of biaxial ordering in a thermotropic liquid crystal

Dynamic light scattering from orientational order fluctuations in a liquid crystalline tetrapode reveals successive, weakly first-order isotropic to uniaxial and uniaxial to biaxial nematic phase transitions. The order parameter relaxation rates exhibit temperature dependences consistent with Landau...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-11, Vol.97 (20), p.207802-207802, Article 207802
Main Authors: Neupane, K, Kang, S W, Sharma, S, Carney, D, Meyer, T, Mehl, G H, Allender, D W, Kumar, Satyendra, Sprunt, S
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Dynamic light scattering from orientational order fluctuations in a liquid crystalline tetrapode reveals successive, weakly first-order isotropic to uniaxial and uniaxial to biaxial nematic phase transitions. The order parameter relaxation rates exhibit temperature dependences consistent with Landau-de Gennes mean field theory. Combined with previous evidence of a second-order uniaxial-biaxial transition in a closely related tetrapode, the present study supports the existence of a nematic-nematic tricritical point in thermotropic liquid crystals.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.207802