The phase behaviour and optical properties of a nematic/chiral dopant liquid crystalline mixture system

Abstract The phase behaviour and aggregation states of a binary mixture of a nematic liquid crystal and a chiral dopant have been investigated. The nematic liquid crystal E7 was miscible with the chiral dopant S811 over their entire concentration range. Binary E7/S811 mixtures formed the N* phase for S811 contents under 20%, and the SmA* phase for S811 contents between 40% and 90%. BP and TGBA* frustrated phases were found during cooling, for S811 contents between 25% and 35%. The helical pitches of the binary mixtures decreased with increasing chiral dopant content. From XRD profiles, the orientational ordering of the binary composites was found to increase with increasing chiral dopant content.