3 research outputs found
Smectic blue phases: layered systems with high intrinsic curvature
We report on a construction for smectic blue phases, which have quasi-long
range smectic translational order as well as three dimensional crystalline
order. Our proposed structures fill space by adding layers on top of a minimal
surface, introducing either curvature or edge defects as necessary. We find
that for the right range of material parameters, the favorable saddle-splay
energy of these structures can stabilize them against uniform layered
structures. We also consider the nature of curvature frustration between mean
curvature and saddle-splay.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure