Determination of chevron direction and sign of the boat-shaped disclination in surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals

On the basis of a smectic layer bend (chevron) structure confirmed recently, the absolute configuration of a zigzag defect and a boat-shaped disclination loop were investigated in surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) cells. Comparing the color of the SSFLC state stabilized by a lateral electric field with the color calculated by a suitable model, the following configurations were clarified: 1) the apices of lightning and the thick lines of hairpin zigzag defects correspond to \lll* \ggg and \ggg* \lll, respectively, and 2) the bow and the stern of boat-shaped domains correspond to +2 π and -2 π wedge disclinations, respectively.