Incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering study of molecular dynamics of 4-n-octyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl

Abstract

We report incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering experiments on the thermotropic liquid crystal 4-n-octyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl. The combination of time-of-flight and backscattering data allows analysis of the intermediate scattering function over about three decades of relaxation times. Translational diffusion and uniaxial molecular rotations are clearly identified as the major relaxation processes in, respectively, the nanosecond and picosecond time scales.