Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

Polarized Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the development of orientational order and the degree of phase biaxiality in a bent-core mesogenic system. The values of the uniaxial order parameters ⟨P₂₀₀⟩ and ⟨P₄₀₀⟩, and biaxial order parameters ⟨P₂₂₀⟩, ⟨P₄₂₀⟩, and ⟨P₄₄₀⟩, and their evolution with temperature were determined. The temperature dependence of almost all order parameters reveals a second order transition from the uniaxial to biaxial nematic phase with ⟨P₂₂₀⟩ increasing to ∼0.22 before a first order transition to the smectic-C phase, upon cooling.