Induced roughness in thin films of smectic-C* elastomers

The surface topography of a thin homeotropically oriented film of ferroelectric smectic-C* elastomer is studied by atomic force microscopy. We find that when the film is mechanically stretched, its surface becomes increasingly rough, in proportion to the applied strain. The effect depends strongly on the nature of crosslinks forming the elastomer network. The r.m.s. roughness correlations show a consistent trend [h(x) − h(0)]21/2 ~ (x/ξ)0.5. We introduce a theoretical model assuming that random disorder in the smectic tilt angle is induced by deformations via the coupling of mesogens to the elastic network. The model describes the observed power law and gives a prediction for the correlatio…