Smectic-to Smectic-Transition in Variable-Thickness Liquid-Crystal Films: Order-Parameter Measurements and Theory
- 19 March 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 52 (12), 1017-1020
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.52.1017
Abstract
This paper presents the results of experimental measurements and a mean-field-theory analysis of the behavior of the average tilt angle near the smectic- to smectic- transition in thin films of two through ten molecular layers. These films provide one of the few physical realizations of systems where the surface layers remain ordered to a higher temperature than the bulk. The mean-field theory provides excellent quantitative fits to the critical-temperature spectrum and good qualitative fits to the order-parameter behavior.
Keywords
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