Chirality in liquid crystals

Abstract

Chirality has become arguably the most important and complex topic of research in liquid crystals today. The reduced symmetry in these organized phases leads to a variety of novel phase structures, properties, and applications. Molecular asymmetry imparts form chirality to liquid-crystalline phases, which is manifested in the formation of helical ordering of the constituent molecules of the phase. Similarly, molecular asymmetry imposes a reduction in the space symmetry, which leads to some phases having unusual non-linear properties, such as ferroelectricity and pyroelectricity. In the following article the various effects of chirality in liquid-crystalline systems are described in general terms.