The smectic phase of spherical-fan-shaped molecules. A computer simulation study

We have used Monte Carlo (MC) NPT computer simulations to study a system of spherical-fan-shaped particles made of three hard discs fused along a common diameter. The calculated equation of state indicates a strong, entropy driven, first-order transition from the isotropic phase to a layered phase that has the basic characteristics of the usual smectic-A mesophase but with strongly correlated rotations about the symmetry axes of neighbouring molecules.