Growth laws for the phase ordering dynamics of the [Formula presented] phase of a bent-core liquid crystal

We have experimentally investigated the dynamics of the phase ordering process of bent-core molecules at isothermal conditions, forming the liquid crystalline “banana” [Formula presented] phase from the isotropic melt. In contrast to the fractal growth patterns observed for other “banana” liquid crystal phases, the [Formula presented] phase exhibits dendritic-like growth, which at short times shows similar growth structures as observed for conventional smectic bâtonnet growth. Analysis with respect to growth laws of the form [Formula presented] shows that the growth process follows the theoretically predicted Allen-Cahn dynamics with [Formula presented] for zero difference in the free energy between the high- and the low-temperature phase, while the growth exponent approaches [Formula presented] for increasing supercooling. From the experimentally obtained data, we estimate the ratio between volume and curvature driven contributions to the phase ordering process as a function of supercooling and suggest a phenomenologically determined relationship of [Formula presented] for the difference in free energy between the high- and the low-temperature phase as the quench depth is varied.