Abstract
The isothermal growth process of the smectic-C phase of 8DBH from the isotropic melt was experimentally investigated for a conventional calamitic mesogen with respect to quench depth, quench rate and cell gap. The observed growth structures exhibited a saturation fractal dimension of D=1.9, showing fractal growth in a conventional calamitic mesophase. Site percolation at the percolation threshold was suggested as the generic formation mechanism of the experimentally observed liquid crystalline textures. The time evolution of a growing texture was be simulated by halting the generic computer algorithm of multisite percolation after a varying number of iteration steps.
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | 051701 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-51701 |
| Number of pages | 51700 |
| Journal | Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2004 |