Observation of Two Isotropic-Nematic Phase Transitions Near a Surface

Satoshi Aya, Yuji Sasaki, Fumito Araoka, Kenji Ema, Ken Ishikawa, Alexander V. Emelyanenko, and Hideo Takezoe

Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 117801 – Published 14 March 2011

Abstract

Using specified conditions, we succeeded in observing the isotropic-nematic (Iso-N) liquid crystal phase transition at surfaces followed by that in bulk for the first time. An additional heat anomaly peak was found at a higher temperature side of a main phase transition peak using highly sensitive differential scanning calorimetry (HS-DSC). The peak is pronounced particularly in the cooling process, since the transition starts at surfaces on cooling. The temperature dependence of retardation allows us to safely conclude that the higher temperature peak that appeared in HS-DSC is attributed to the Iso-N transition at surfaces. These measurements also indicate that the surface transition is of first order. These behaviors were theoretically explained by generalized Maier-Saupe theory.

Received 2 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.117801

Authors & Affiliations

Satoshi Aya¹, Yuji Sasaki², Fumito Araoka¹, Kenji Ema², Ken Ishikawa¹, Alexander V. Emelyanenko³, and Hideo Takezoe¹

¹Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-S8-42 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
²Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
³Department of Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia

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Issue

Vol. 106, Iss. 11 — 18 March 2011

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