80 research outputs found
The Structure of TGB Phases
We study the transition from the cholesteric phase to two TGB phases near
the upper critical twist : the Renn-Lubensky TGB phase, with layer
normal rotating in a plane perpendicular to the pitch axis, and the Bordeaux
TGB phase, with the layer normal rotating on a cone parallel to the pitch
axis. We calculate properties, including order-parameter profiles, of both
phases.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Physical Review E, Rapid
Communications, September 5, 2003; Revised manuscript (to the paper submitted
on March 18, 2003, cond-mat/0303365)that includes an important missing
reference and presents an improved analysis of a generalized mode
Structure of smectic defect cores: an X-ray study of 8CB liquid crystal ultra-thin films
We study the structure of very thin liquid crystal films frustrated by
antagonistic anchorings in the smectic phase. In a cylindrical geometry, the
structure is dominated by the defects for film thicknesses smaller than 150 nm
and the detailed topology of the defects cores can be revealed by x-ray
diffraction. They appear to be split in half tube-shaped Rotating Grain
Boundaries (RGB). We determine the RGB spatial extension and evaluate its
energy per unit line. Both are significantly larger than the ones usually
proposed in the literatureComment: 4 page
Phase Transition between the Cholesteric and Twist Grain Boundary C Phases
The upper critical temperature Tc2 for the phase transition between the
Cholesteric phase (N*) and the Twist Grain Boundary C phase with the layer
inclination tilted to the pitch axis (TGBct) in thermotropic liquid crystals is
determined by the mean field Chen-Lubensky approach. We show that the N*-TGBct
phase transition is split in two with the appearance of either the TGBA or the
TGB2q phase in a narrow temperature interval below Tc2. The latter phase is
novel in being superposed from two degenerate
TGBct phases with different (left and right) layers inclinations to the pitch
axis.Comment: Phys. Rev. E, to be publ; 24 pages, RevTeX + 3 ps figure
Dynamics of cholesteric structures in an electric field
Motivated by Lehmann-like rotation phenomena in cholesteric drops we study
the transverse drift of two types of cholesteric fingers, which form rotating
spirals in thin layers of cholesteric liquid crystal in an ac or dc electric
field. We show that electrohydrodynamic effects induced by Carr-Helfrich charge
separation or flexoelectric charge generation can describe the drift of
cholesteric fingers. We argue that the observed Lehmann-like phenomena can be
understood on the same basis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Computer simulations of hard pear-shaped particles
We report results obtained from Monte Carlo simulations investi-
gating mesophase formation in two model systems of hard pear-shaped
particles. The first model considered is a hard variant of the trun-
cated Stone-Expansion model previously shown to form nematic and
smectic mesophases when embedded within a 12-6 Gay-Berne-like po-
tential [1]. When stripped of its attractive interactions, however, this system is found to lose its liquid crystalline phases. For particles of length to breadth ratio k = 3, glassy behaviour is seen at high pressures, whereas for k = 5 several bi-layer-like domains are seen, with high intradomain order but little interdomain orientational correlation. For the second model, which uses a parametric shape parameter based on the generalised Gay-Berne formalism, results are presented for particles with elongation k = 3; 4 and 5. Here, the systems with k = 3 and 4 fail to display orientationally ordered phases, but that with k = 5 shows isotropic, nematic and, unusually for a hard-particle model, interdigitated smectic A2 phases.</p
Optical determination of flexoelectric coefficients and surface polarization in a hybrid aligned nematic cell
A. Mazzulla, F. Ciuchi, and J. Roy Sambles, Physical Review E, Vol. 64, article 021708 (2001). "Copyright © 2001 by the American Physical Society."We present an optical study of the influence of both the flexoelectric effect and surface polarization on a hybrid-aligned nematic cell using the half-leaky guided mode technique. Tilt angle profiles, obtained from fits of experimental data (reflectivity curves) taken under applied voltages, are compared with the ones derived by a complete theoretical model. Measurements with an applied alternating voltage allow the evaluation of the anchoring energy by solving the torque balance equation at the planar surface. From measurements with static fields, the sum of flexoelectric coefficients and the surface polarization are determined by numerical solution of Euler-Lagrange equations
Combined Microscopy, Calorimetry and X-ray Scattering Study of Fluorinated Dimesogens
The material FDO11DFCB3 (compound 2 in this work) remains the only example of a liquid-crystalline material to exhibit a phase transition from the heliconical twist-bend phase into a lamellar smectic A mesophase, additionally this material exhibits a previously unidentified mesophase. We have prepared and characterised several homologues of this compound, with each material subjected to an in-depth analysis by optical microscopy, calorimetry and small angle X-ray scattering studies. Despite FDO11DFCB3 being similar in chemical structure to the novel materials presented herein its liquid-crystalline behaviour is rather different, indicating an unexpected sensitivity of the twist-bend phase to molecular structure
Determination of the size distribution of non-spherical nanoparticles by electric birefringence-based methods
The in situ determination of the size distribution of dispersed non-spherical nanoparticles is an essential
characterization tool for the investigation and use of colloidal suspensions. In this work, we test a size
characterization method based on the measurement of the transient behaviour of the birefringence
induced in the dispersions by pulsed electric fields. The specific shape of such relaxations depends on the
distribution of the rotational diffusion coefficient of the suspended particles. We analyse the measured
transient birefringence with three approaches: the stretched-exponential, Watson-Jennings, and multiexponential
methods. These are applied to six different types of rod-like and planar particles: PTFE
rods, goethite needles, single- and double-walled carbon nanotubes, sodium montmorillonite particles
and gibbsite platelets. The results are compared to electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering
measurements. The methods here considered provide good or excellent results in all cases, proving that
the analysis of the transient birefringence is a powerful tool to obtain complete size distributions of
non-spherical particles in suspension.Financial support of this investigation by Junta de AndalucĂa, Spain (grant No. PE2012-FQM0694) and University
of Granada (Program “Proyectos de investigación precompetitivos”) is gratefully acknowledged
The Dependency of Nematic and Twist-bend Mesophase Formation on Bend Angle
We have prepared and studied a family of cyanobiphenyl dimers with varying linking groups with a view to exploring how molecular structure dictates the stability of the nematic and twist-bend nematic mesophases. Using molecular modelling and 1D (1)H NOESY NMR spectroscopy, we determine the angle between the two aromatic core units for each dimer and find a strong dependency of the stability of both the nematic and twist-bend mesophases upon this angle, thereby satisfying earlier theoretical models
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