Mirror vs. inversion symmetry breaking in mesogenic dimers: NTB vs. NF phase
Soft Condensed Matter
2026-07-20 v1
Abstract
The recently discovered twist-bend nematic NTB and ferroelectric nematic NF phases are distinct examples of spontaneous symmetry breaking in liquid crystals. Here, we report the occurrence of both type nematic phases within the same homologous series of dimers consisting of two strongly dipolar mesogenic units linked by a flexible spacer. The NF phase, observed for dimers having spacer with even number of atoms, exhibits the strong polar order; in the NTB phase, observed for dimers with odd number of atoms in the spacer, short-pitch heliconical director structure develops.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.17989,
title = {Mirror vs. inversion symmetry breaking in mesogenic dimers: NTB vs. NF phase},
author = {Małgorzata Bakiera and Jakub Karcz and Damian Pociecha and Katarzyna Kwiatkowska and Mateusz Pawlak and Przemysław Kula and Ewa Gorecka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.17989},
year = {2026}
}