A. P. Filippov* and V. Surendranath**
* Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Bol’shoi pr. 31, St. Petersburg, 199004 Russia
** Box 36, Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA
Received December 4, 1997;
Revised Manuscript Received November 19, 1998
Abstract—For the LC dimers whose mesogenic groups are laterally joined by flexible spacers, the magnetic-
field-induced orientational elastic deformations were studied. The temperature dependences of optical aniso-
tropy and elastic constants were determined. It was shown that the optical anisotropy and the orientational order
parameter of the nematics studied are controlled not only by the length of a flexible spacer but also by a marked
freedom of rotation of mesogenic groups about the short axes. Bend and splay elastic constants and the ratio
between them remain unchanged with the increasing length of the central flexible fragment. This fact allows
one to conclude that the properties of the nematic phases formed by dimers and polymers are rather similar.
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