Frequency Dependence of Proton Spin Relaxation in Liquid Crystalline PAA

We report on measurements of the Larmor frequency dependence of the proton spin relaxation time T1 in the nematic and isotropic phase of p-azoxyanisole (frequency range: 3.8 kHz ≦ ωL/2 π≦75 MHz) . In both cases our results clearly support the Pincus-Cahane mechanism of spin relaxation by order fluctuations ("ωL−½-law") and exclude the alternative translational dif­fusion model (“ωL+½-law”). For the isotropic phase it was possible to evaluate the correlation time τ of the liquid crystalline order fluctuations from the observed T1 dispersion. As a function of the deviation ⊿ν=ν-νc from the critical nematic-isotropic transition temperature, νc= (136± 0.5)°C, we found τ=2.71·10-7-⊿ν-0.25s .