| The Fluid-Like and Critical Behavior of the Isotropic-Nematic Transition Appearing in Linear and Non-linear Dielectric Studies |
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A. Drozd-Rzoska, S.J. Rzoska and J. Zioło August Chełkowski Institute of Physics, Silesian University Uniwersytecka 4, 40-007 Katowice, Poland |
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| A short review of literature and the authors' experimental results for the pretransitional behavior in the isotropic phase of nematogens is given. The paper also presents new results of non-linear dielectric effect and dielectric permittivity measurements in the broad temperature range. Results obtained show significant advantages of non-linear dielectric effect and dielectric permittivity for studying pretransitional properties in liquid crystalline materials. The paper contains a comprehensive comparison of the experiment with predictions of the mean-field model and the fluid-like description. The presented analysis strongly supports the image of the isotropic phase as a complex liquid resulting from vicinity of the fluid-like, "nematic-isotropic", critical point. |
| DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.98.637 PACS numbers: 64.70.Md, 64.30.+t, 77.22.Ch |