Electroclinic liquid crystals with large induced tilt angle and small layer contraction

Optical and x-ray scattering studies of a chiral, organosiloxane smectic-A liquid crystal indicate a large field induced optical tilt of up to 31 degrees accompanied by a very small contraction of the smectic layers. This result suggests that the molecules have a nonzero tilt even with no applied field, and that the primary effect of the field is to induce long range order in the direction of the molecular tilt.