Effects of fullerene addition on the thermo-optical properties of smectic liquid crystals at the vicinity of the nematic-smectic-A phase transition.

The present work is devoted to the study of the thermo-optical properties of liquid crystals doped with traces of fullerene C(60) at the vicinity of the nematic-smectic-A phase transition. By using the time-resolved Z-scan technique, we measure the temperature dependence of the thermo-optical coefficient and the thermal diffusivity. Our results reveal that the critical behavior of the thermal diffusivity is strongly affected by the fullerene addition. We provide a detailed discussion under the light of the distinct mechanisms behind the thermal transport in liquid-crystal samples.