Field induced modification of SmC∗–SmCA∗ transition temperature of a fluorinated antiferroelectric liquid crystal

The temperature and frequency dependent dielectric relaxation data and simultaneous observation of optical texture reveal co-existence of ferroelectric (SmC∗) and antiferroelectric (SmCA∗) phases in the pre-transition regime of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) sample viz. (R)-4-[1-methyl-2-(2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropyloxy)ethyloxy)carbonyl]phenyl 4′-decyloxybiphenyl-4-caboxylate. Interestingly, this sample shows irreversible change in the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric (AFE → FE) phase transition temperature (T0) for consecutively increasing bias field treatment in successive cycles. The lowest upper bound of the threshold field for AFE → FE transition at the boundary of the said phases is found to be ∼1 kV cm−1.