Dielectric, thermal and optical study of an unusually shaped liquid crystal Original Research Article

Dielectric measurements have been carried out for the determination of real and imaginary parts of the permittivity of a newly synthesized, unusually shaped liquid crystal. The sample has been investigated in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 10 MHz within a temperature range 80–130 °C. The dielectric measurements in the smectic A phase indicate a Cole–Cole type of dispersion, and the activation energy was found to be 5.5 meV by using the Arrhenius plot of relaxation time. In addition to this, thermal and optical transmittance studies have also been conducted in the above mentioned temperature range, and the temperature dependence of these parameters has been discussed in detail. The phase transition temperature obtained from a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study matches within 2 °C that was obtained from an optical transmittance study. The dielectric and optical behavior of the unusually shaped liquid crystal has been explained on the basis of a proposed theoretical model in which a sample possesses two different conformers having induced polarizations in opposite directions.