Eur. Phys. J. B 2, 51-56 (1998)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050224

Surface effects in field-induced smectic transitions

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
² Département de Physique, Institut de Génie Atomique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Corresponding author: ^a paolo@iris.polito.it

Received: 25 August 1997
Accepted: 23 January 1998
Published online: 15 March 1998

Abstract

We study the surface behavior of a semi-infinite smectogenic sample bounded by a solid wall, in the presence of an external electric field. Our analysis is performed in the framework of a Landau-de Gennes theory. For the sake of simplicity, we consider only the case in which, in the absence of field and surfaces, a direct isotropic to smectic-A transition occurs, while in the presence of the electric field a nonspontaneous nematic phase appears. Two new surface phases are identified, namely a parasmectic and a surface-induced smectic phase. The shifts in the transition temperatures and the critical behavior of the surface states are analyzed.