Twist elasticity and anchoring in a lamellar nematic phase

Electro-optic measurements were performed on a lamellar nematic phase in which the mesogenic moieties lie in lamellae that are separated by partially perfluorinated side groups. The twist elastic constant K 2 2 , viscosityγ 1 , and the quadratic and quartic anchoring strength coefficients are reported. K 2 2 and γ 1 are found to be considerably smaller than that of typical three-dimensional nematics. The small K 2 2 is due to the greatly weakened interactions between the spatially separated lamellae.