Optical textural study of surface phase transitions involving tilted hexatic phases in free-standing liquid-crystal films

Surface freezing transitions in free-standing films of achiral Schiffs-base liquid crystals 50.6 and 70.7 exhibiting tilted hexatic phases have been studied using optical textures. The evolution of textures with temperature in 50.6 films is qualitatively similar to that reported earlier in FTE1, except that the stripe texture consists of alternating light and dark stripes of unequal widths. No stripe texture is observed in 70.7.