Phase Behavior and Dynamics of the Liquid Crystal 4'-butyl-4-(2-methylbutoxy)azoxybenzene (4ABO5*)

Abstract

The results of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy and polarizing microscope observation of the 4'-butyl-4-(2-methylbutoxy)azoxybenzene (abbreviated as 4ABO5*) are presented. Numerical analysis of the dielectric spectra results points to complex dynamics of 4ABO5* molecules in isotropic, cholesteric, and crystalline phases. Two well-separated maxima on the imaginary part of dielectric permittivity and the third low frequency relaxation process, hidden in the conductivity region, were detected and described in cholesteric and crystalline phases. Temperature dependence of mean relaxation times characterizing flip-flop motions and rotation around long axes, observed in all phases, is of the Arrhenius type.