Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.437, 1355-1355, 2005
How do defects transform at the Smectic A-Nematic phase transition?
An optical microscopy investigation of the SmA phase close to the nematic phase puts into evidence the interaction between focal conic domains on one hand, screw and edge dislocations on the other hand. We report here three different situations of such interactions. Our results point towards a dislocation model of the SmA N transition.