Calorimetric Investigation of the Isotropic to Smectic-A Phase Transition of Smectic Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers

A high-resolution calorimetric study has been performed in the vicinity of the isotropic to smectic-A phase transition of smectic liquid crystalline elastomers. The transition is weakly first order for both investigated samples. Nevertheless, different features have been observed when the crosslinking density is changed, such as substantial broadening of the transition and decrease of the involved latent heat. The latter is sluggishly released in a range of few K.