Electro-optical and ferroelectric switching of Langmuir–Blodgett films made of a chiral smectic-C⁎ liquid crystalline compound

Electric and electro-optical properties of a smectic liquid crystal (LC) compound formed by rod-like molecules have been investigated in the thin film sandwich geometry typically used in solid-state technology. Thin (~ 10–30 nm) Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films of the compound (tetradecyl homologue (n = 14) of the series p-oxybenzylidene-p′-amino-2-methylbutyl(α-cyano)cinnamate) were transferred onto glasses covered with a transparent electrode and supplied with a top electrode evaporated in vacuum. In contrast to the LC bulk, thin films of the compound manifest only a solid crystalline phase throughout the whole temperature range (20–110 °C) investigated. Ferroelectric properties of the films (covering linear electro-optic effect, pyroeffect and polarization switching) have been observed in the whole temperature range studied.