Journal ArticleDOI
Pretransitional Phenomena in the Isotropic Phase of a Nematic Liquid Crystal
T. W. Stinson,J. D. Litster +1 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors have observed a divergence of the magnetic birefringence, and a critical increase and slowing of the fluctuations in order in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal.Abstract:
We have observed a divergence of the magnetic birefringence, and a critical increase and slowing of the fluctuations in order in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. Our results are quantitatively described by a mean-field model except for a critical region close to the ordering temperature where the fluctuations are so large that the meanfield approximation fails.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Ultrafast to slow orientational dynamics of a homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal.
TL;DR: The temperature-dependent orientational dynamics in the nematic phase are shown to be very different than those observed in the isotropic phase.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quasicritical behavior of dielectric permittivity in the isotropic phase of n-hexyl-cyanobiphenyl in a large range of temperatures and pressures.
TL;DR: For both temperature and pressure paths, the dielectric permittivity and the NDE exhibited strong pretransitional effects, described by "critical" exponents phi =1-alpha approximately 0.5 and gamma=1, respectively.
Journal ArticleDOI
Molecular orientational correlations in isotropic phases of nematogenic and smectogenic compounds
Journal ArticleDOI
Direct Observation of Picosecond Reorientation of Molecules in the Isotropic Phases of Nematogens
TL;DR: In this article, an experimental investigation of individual molecular movements inside the isotropic phase of nematogens, by means of optical Kerr EKect techniques, is presented. And in the case of p-methoxybenzylidene-p-n-butylanili (MBBA), the first direct measurement of the ratio CF/Cs, where C is the amplitude of the well known slow response, induced by the order parameter fluctuations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Pretransitional phenomena in the isotropic melt of a mesogenic side chain polymer
TL;DR: In this article, a mesogenic side chain polymer was characterized using electric birefringence studies and the magnitude of induced bireringence and its relaxation time were found to diverge in the isotropic melt as a hypothetical second order phase transition into the nematic phase is approached.