Abstract
Dielectric and electrooptical properties as well as phase transition behavior in a network-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal were studied. The influence of polymerized network on these physical parameters were characterized. All measurements were performed upon adding monomer to the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture after in situ polymerization with UV radiation. We observed hysteresis-free symmetric V-shaped switching in a 2 µm cell. It was observed that both the Iso → N* and smectic A (SmA) → smectic C* (SmC*) phase transition temperatures were depressed to more ordered phase with increasing monomer concentration. The decrease was more prominent in the case of the SmA → SmC* phase transition. The Goldstone mode dielectric strength ΔεG in the SmC* phase was drastically reduced in the presence of networks. Soft mode dielectric strength was also reduced considerably. A small increase of pitch was observed with increasing monomer concentration. Spontaneous polarization was dramatically reduced in the presence of polymer networks.