The temperature dependencies of the dielectric constant and the tilt angle (order parameter) are calculated under the electric field for the smectic A-smectic C* (AC*) transition in 4-(3-methyl-2-chlorobutanoyloxy)-4 0 -heptyloxybiphenyl (A7). The dielectric constant is fitted to the experimental data by using our mean field model with the biquadratic coupling between the spontaneous polarisation P and the tilt angle . Our results show that the mean field model with the P 2 2 coupling describes satisfactorily the observed behaviour of the AC* transition in A7. It is indicated here that a first-order AC* transition occurring at low electric fields changes its character towards a second order as the electric field increases in A7.
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