Landau theory applied to antiferroelectric ordering in ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals

@misc{badu2026landau,
  title = {{Landau theory applied to antiferroelectric ordering in ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals}},
  author = {Manisha Badu and Arjun Ghimire and Milon and Priyanka Kumari and Hari Krishna Bisoyi and Oleg D. Lavrentovich and James Gleeson and Antal Jakli and Samuel Sprunt},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.11413},
  eprint = {2605.11413},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11413},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Landau theory applied to antiferroelectric ordering in ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals
AU  - Manisha Badu
AU  - Arjun Ghimire
AU  - Milon
AU  - Priyanka Kumari
AU  - Hari Krishna Bisoyi
AU  - Oleg D. Lavrentovich
AU  - James Gleeson
AU  - Antal Jakli
AU  - Samuel Sprunt
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/17
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.11413
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11413
AB  - The polarization and mass density modulation associated with antiferroelectric ordering in two ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals, a prototypical single compound (referred to as DIO) and a commercial mixture (FNLC919), are studied experimentally as a function of temperature. The wavenumber of the polarization modulation, qA, is determined by small angle X-ray diffraction from the weak, accompanying density wave (wavenumber qS = 2qA) using a conventional laboratory source. Combined results for qS and the saturated value of the polarization are analyzed in terms of Landau theory previously developed to describe the para-/antiferro-/ferroelectric sequence of phase transitions in solid ferroelectrics. The analysis of qS indicates that the polarization modulation can be reasonably well approximated by a simple sinusoid in DIO, whereas in FNLC919 a sharp decrease in qS close to the antiferro- to ferroelectric transition indicates development of a soliton-like profile.
ER  -