Rich polymorphism of a rod-like liquid crystal (8CB) confined in two types of unidirectional nanopores

Régis Guégan (1, 2) , Denis Morineau (1) , Ronan Lefort (1) , Wilfried Béziel (1) , Mohammed Guendouz (3) , Laurence Noirez (4) , Anke Henschel (5) , Patrick Huber (5)

1 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes
2 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans
3 FOTON - Fonctions Optiques pour les Technologies de l'informatiON
4 LLB - UMR 12 - Laboratoire Léon Brillouin
5 Fakultät für Physik und Elektrotechnik

We present a neutron and X-rays scattering study of the phase transitions of 4-n-octyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (8CB) confined in unidirectional nanopores of porous alumina and porous silicon (PSi) membranes with an average diameter of 30 nm. Spatial confinement reveals a rich polymorphism, with at least four different low temperature phases in addition to the smectic A phase. The structural study as a function of thermal treatments and conditions of spatial confinement allows us to get insights into the formation of these phases and their relative stability. It gives the first description of the complete phase behavior of 8CB confined in PSi and provides a direct comparison with results obtained in bulk conditions and in similar geometric conditions of confinement but with reduced quenched disorder effects using alumina anopore membranes

Mots clés: confinement; 8CB; liquid-crystal; neutron; quenched disorder; porous; silicon

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]; Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]; Milieux et Changements globaux

Régis Guégan, Denis Morineau, Ronan Lefort, Wilfried Béziel, Mohammed Guendouz, et al.. Rich polymorphism of a rod-like liquid crystal (8CB) confined in two types of unidirectional nanopores. European Physical Journal E: Soft matter and biological physics, 2008, 26 (3), pp.261-273. ⟨10.1140/epje/i2007-10323-0⟩. ⟨hal-00271680⟩