Isotropic to smectic-C phase transition in liquid-crystalline elastomers

A phenomenological model is developed to describe the isotropic-smectic-C phase transition in liquid-crystalline side-chain elastomers. We analyze the influence of external mechanical stress on the isotropic-smectic-C phase transition. While this phase transition is first order in low-molecular-weight materials, we show here that the order of this transition does not change in liquid-crystalline elastomers. The temperature dependence of the heat capacity and the nonlinear dielectric effect in the isotropic phase above the isotropic-smectic-C phase transition in liquid crystalline elastomers are calculated. The theoretical results are found to be in good agreement with experiment.