Optical properties and phenomenological theory of ferri-ferri phase transitions in antiferroelectric liquid crystals

Optical rotatory power and Raman scattering experiments on chiral liquid crys- tals belonging to a series which exhibits one or two ferrielectric phases have been performed. The results of these non-perturbative techniques show that, depending upon the aliphatic chain length, a first order transition with a jump in sign and value of the helical pitch, or a divergence and sign reversal of the pitch with no transition can occur in these systems. These observations are in agreement with a generalized Landau-de Gennes phenomenological model predicting that the ferrielectric phases, when both exist, should be isostructural.