Ferroelectricity in liquid crystals probed by second harmonic generation

Summary form only given. Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC) attract significant attention as promising materials for different applications and rare examples of two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectrics. It has been shown previously that a nonlinear optical probe of second harmonic generation (SHG) can be applied to study the structure and switching behaviour of FLC. In this study, ferroelectric properties and switching behaviour of thin planar FLC cells were studied using electrooptic (EO), SHG intensity and interferometry measurements.