The smectic layer reorientation induced by an electric field in a short pitch ferroelectric liquid crystal

We studied the layer reorientation of a ferroelectric liquid crystal with a short helical pitch induced by a unipolar electric field in the vicinity of the chiral nematic-chiral smectic C phase transition. The rotation of the average layer direction in striped domains was observed by using an optical polarizing microscope as a function of the amplitude of the electric field. It was found that the angle and the associated characteristic time for layer rotation strongly depend on the frequency of the electric field.