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X-ray diffraction investigations of both nematic and smectic phases of a number of compounds containing cyano end groups have revealed several of them to have a novel structure. This consists of two coexisting mass density fluctuations (heavily damped for the nematics) with incommensurate wavelengths corresponding, respectively, to some-what less than the molecular length l and to the cyano "bilayer" spacing (~1.4l).
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Brownsey et al. (1980) studied this question.
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