Novel ferroelectric fluids

While there is no fundamental reason that fluids should not be ferroelectric the only known ferroelectric fluids are chiral smectic-C liquid crystals. In this paper we argue that a variety of nonchiral layered (smectic) phases composed of properly designed oligomeric or polymeric molecules will also be ferroelectric. These ferroelectric fluids, and the solids formed by quenching them, should be of fundamental and practical interest. The nature of these phases, the design of the relevant molecules, and the experimental techniques for identifying the phases are discussed qualitatively.