The Smectic Phase of Spherical-Fan Shaped Molecules. A Computer Simulation Study

We have used Monte Carlo NPT computer simulations to study a system of spherical fan shaped particles made of three hard discs fused along a common diameter. The calculated equation of state indicates a strong, entropy driven, first order transition from the isotropic phase to a layered phase that has the basic characteristics of the usual smectic A mesophase but with strongly correlated rotations about the symmetry axes of neighbouring molecules.