Institute of Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44235
Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7079
A.M. Rudin and P. L. Taylor
September 4, 1998
We study the theory of the Fréederiksz transition in antiferroelectric liquid crystals and find the conditions under which an applied electric field can cause a homogeneously nucleated transition of the system from antiferroelectric to ferroelectric alignment. We demonstrate that taking into account the cooperative motion of smectic layers results in a significant reduction of the predicted critical electric field at which this transition occurs.