Abstract
A null transmission ellipsometry study on free standing films of a band-core compound was reported. The critical exponent associated with the biaxiality through the uniaxial-antiferoelectric biaxial Sm A transition was measured to be 0.82±0.04. It was demonstrated that the critical behavior of the optical biaxiality with the order parameter being a vector was described by the secondary-order parameter of the three-dimensional XY model. A remarkable even-odd layering effect exhibited by the surface layers of freestanding films under an applied electric field in the film plane was also observed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 061705 |
| Pages (from-to) | 061705-1-061705-6 |
| Journal | Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue number | 6 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2004 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are grateful to Professor H. R. Brand and Professor A. Aharony for valuable discussions. The research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Solid State Chemistry Program under Grants No. DMR-0106122, No. DMR02-37296, and No. EIA02-10736. X.F.H. wishes to acknowledge financial support from the Stanwood Johnston Memorial Foundation at the University of Minnesota.