LAUSR

Abstract Two homologous series of 3-hydroxy benzoic acid based bent-core mesogens with an azobenzene wing bearing either alkoxy or alkyl terminal chains are synthesised and their liquid crystalline and photoswitching properties are investigated. The synthesised compounds are characterized using IR, 1H NMR, elemental analysis (EA) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The liquid crystalline properties of these compounds are studied by using polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). They are found to exhibit B1, B2 and an unidentified mesophase, M. Photoswitching studies suggest that the compounds with alkoxy chain have excellent thermal back relaxation as compared to those having alkyl chains. Therefore, a representative compound from alkoxy series is used to fabricate an optical storage device and tested for the efficiency. The results obtained provide a strong evidence for the structure-property relationship in such bent-core mesogens indicating that even a small change in the chemical structure such as, changing the alkyl to alkoxy chain or even the chain length can influence the light induced state of the molecules, the property that is used for creation of optical storage devices.