Temperature and field dependence of the switching behavior of induced molecular tilt near the smectic A–C* transition

Abstract

A fast electro‐optic switching has been achieved in the smectic A phase of a electroclinic (EC) mixture, based on large EC coupling to the applied electric field. Near the transition from the smectic A to the chiral smectic C* phase, we have observed for the first time strong field dependence of the switching time, resulting from nonlinear behavior of the induced molecular tilt. As temperature increases, however, the switching time remains essentially constant. In addition, there is no temperature dependence at sufficiently high fields. A simple‐mean field description is presented to account for the experimental results.