A critical end point above which an isotropic phase continuously evolves into a polar (ferroelectric) nematic phase with an increasing electric field is found in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystalline material. The critical end point is approximately 30 K above the zero-field transition temperature from the isotropic to nematic phase and at an electric field of the order of 10 V/micron. Such systems are interesting from the application point of view because a strong birefringence can be induced in a broad temperature range in an optically isotropic phase.
@article{arxiv.2301.06915,
title = {Ferroelectric nematic -- isotropic critical end point},
author = {Jadwiga Szydlowska and Pawel Majewski and Mojca Čepič and Nataša Vaupotič and Paulina Rybak and Corrie T Imrie and Rebecca Walker and Ewan Cruickshank and John MD Storey and Damian Pociecha and Ewa Gorecka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.06915},
year = {2024}
}