Thickness dependence of polarization and response characteristics in thin FLC films

The effects of cell thickness on the pretransitional behaviour of ferroelectric liquid crystals are studied experimentally and theoretically for thin cells. The temperature and field dependences of the tilt angle, polarization, polarization to tilt angle ratio, dielectric permeability and relaxation frequency are considered in detail in the framework of a simple model for the surface tension. Apparent values of the phenomenological coefficients in the free energy expansion and some bulk and surface material parameters are estimated.