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Landau theory applied to antiferroelectric ordering in ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals

Manisha Badu1,*, Arjun Ghimire1,*, Milon2,*, Priyanka Kumari2, Hari Krishna Bisoyi3, Oleg D. Lavrentovich1,2, James Gleeson1, Antal Jakli1,2, and Samuel Sprunt1,2,†

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: ssprunt@kent.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043097 – Published 28 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/136n-hykb

Abstract

The polarization and mass density modulation associated with antiferroelectric ordering in two ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals, a prototypical single compound (referred to as DIO) and a commercial mixture (FNLC919), are studied experimentally as a function of temperature. The wave number of the polarization modulation, qA, is determined by small-angle x-ray diffraction from the weak, accompanying density wave (wave number qS=2qA) using a conventional laboratory source. Combined results for qS and the saturated value of the polarization are analyzed in terms of Landau theory previously developed to describe the paraelectric/antiferroelectric/ferroelectric sequence of phase transitions in solid ferroelectrics. The analysis of qS indicates that the polarization modulation can be reasonably well approximated by a simple sinusoid in DIO, whereas in FNLC919 a sharp decrease in qS close to the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric transition indicates development of a solitonlike profile.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043097– Published 28 October, 2026
  • Received 18 June 2026
  • Accepted 22 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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