Chiral V-shaped liquid-crystal molecules

The behaviour chiral V-shaped bi-mesogen molecules in smectic phases is investigated. The template concept is used to describe the conformations of the molecules in smectic A and smectic C phases. The response of V-shaped molecules to an electric field is described. It is found that in the smectic C phase V-shaped molecules can display a ferroelectric response at low field followed by an antiferroelectric response at high fields.