Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.359, 579-587, 2001
Polarizing microscopy of a chiral discotic
We studied a liquid crystalline compound of disk-like molecules that has a mesophase in the temperature range 104-180 degrees C. The compound exhibits schlieren textures typical to the discoidal nematic phase within this temperature range. Chemical modification of this compound with chiral groups allowed to synthesize a chiral discotic. Incorporating the chiral discotic as a dopant in the discotic compound we produced chiral structures. In the mixtures of chiral and non-chiral discotic, we observed textures typical to rod-like cholesterics: oily streaks, fingerprint textures, and Cano-Grandjean lines in wedge cells. The induced cholesteric pitch was estimated from fingerprint textures. We induced chiral structures with pitch between 10 mum and 40 mum for the concentration range 1-7 weight % of chiral discotic.