The effect of the elastic constants on the alignment and electro-optic behaviour of smectic C liquid crystals

The static electro-optic behaviour of achiral smectic C samples in the chevron geometry have been modelled using the continuum theory of Leslie et al. [1]. The model assumes that the layer tilt and smectic C director tilt angle are constant, and treats the layers at the chevron interface as an infinitely bound surface. Comparison of the predicted electro-optic behaviour with experimental results gives values for the bend (B-1) and splay (B-2) c-director elastic constants. However, more detailed optical studies show that surface and chevron interface terms become important at high values of applied electric field.