Résumé:

A ferroelectric liquid crystal with an end-substituted (-)-isopinocampheol (IPC) group has been studied in isolation and in mixtures with the antiferroelectric compound EHPOCBC. The samples were studied with respect to electroclinic coefficients, tilt angles, X-ray layer spacing, dielectric permittivity, spontaneous polarisation and relative birefringence under an applied field. In the pure isopinocampheol substituted compound, the SmA*-SmC* phase transition appears strongly first order and is associated with a significant increase in effective birefringence. The smectic layer spacing decreases below the transition approximately with the optical tilt. On increased EHPOCBC concentration the change in birefringence across the transition diminishes, until the point at which the mixture adopts an anticlinic SmC*(A) phase, and the expected decrease in birefringence is observed. There is very little change in birefringence with field for the IPC compound, whilst EHPOCBC shows a marked increase with increasing field, for a few degrees above the phase transition. The results are analyzed with respect to two models. In one it is proposed that the bulky IPC group disorders the SmA* phase by introducing undulations in the smectic layer. These undulations may disappear in the SmC* phase due to an antiparallel arrangement of neighbouring molecules. In the other model the bent shape of the mesogen as a whole plays a crucial role in changing the optical properties at the SmA*-SmC* transition, due to the biased rotation around the molecular axis of inertia.