Nonparabolic Dendrites of a Smectic Phase Growing into a Supercooled Nematic

The interface of a growing smectic phase in a supercooled nematic liquid crystal was studied. A change in the morphology and the side-branching activity was observed with the undercooling. Nonparabolic dendrites with faceted dissymmetric tips were found for small undercooling. The equilibrium shape of the smectic germ was a rectangle. A drifting of the smectic objects was observed. The starting tip velocities obey the scaling relation v s ∼ Δ 4 .