1. Could you explain the significance of your article to the non-specialist? 

In the achiral bent-core liquid crystalline system, the two-dimensional modulated smectic phase exists, called the B1 phase. In this phase, several kinds of structures have been proposed so far. In this paper, we studied the local layer structure of B1 phase of proto-type bent-core molecules before and during applying an electric field using x-ray microbeam. From the small- and wide-angle diffraction, the group symmetry of the B1 phase, which was said to be p2mg, was found to be pm2₁m.

2. What has motivated you to conduct this work?

Several kinds of layer structures have been suggested in the B1 phase of the achiral bent-core liquid crystalline system so far. We want to clarify what the true structure is.

3. Where do you see this work developing in the future? 

We consider that every non-tilted B1 phase has the group symmetry of pm2₁m. As we mentioned in the summary, we would like to reexamine the structure in the B1 phase of other compounds, and in addition, we also want to investigate whether the B1 (Col(p2mg)) phase really exists or not.

4. Are there any particular challenges facing future research in this area? 

We want to investigate the structure change of B1revtiltsd (Col(p11n)) under the switching process using time-resolved X-ray microbeam.