K. K. Raina

Dielectric spectroscopy investigations in the frequency range 50 Hz to 1 MHz have been carried out on a new ferroelectric liquid-crystalline material (S-(-)-4-(2-n-hexylpropionyloxy)biphenyl-4′-(3-methyl-4-decyloxy)benzoate) possessing a relatively large spontaneous polarization (P _s ∼ 240 nC cm⁻²) and containing a lateral methyl group on the aromatic ring of the alkoxybenzoate unit. The effect of temperature on the dielectric relaxation modes has been investigated in the SmC* and N* phases. From dielectric dispersion data, relaxation frequency and dielectric strength of all detected relaxation modes have been evaluated and discussed. A new surface-like mode of relaxation frequency ∼11 kHz and dielectric strength 3.8, is seen to appear in the SmC* phase.