Neutron diffraction study of the smectic C-smectic a phase transition of TBBA

Abstract The smectic C-smectic A transition of terephtal bis butyl aniline (TBBA) is investigated using neutron diffraction. The critical exponent relating the tilt angle to the reduced temperature is found to be β = 0.44 ± 0.04. Comparison with results obtained by other methods and with theoretical predictions is presented.