Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals
We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization, this charge is distributed in pointlike units of quarter-intege...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2021
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| _version_ | 1826307581198467072 |
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| author | Monderkamp, PA Wittmann, R Cortes, LBG Aarts, DGAL Smallenburg, F Löwen, H |
| author_facet | Monderkamp, PA Wittmann, R Cortes, LBG Aarts, DGAL Smallenburg, F Löwen, H |
| author_sort | Monderkamp, PA |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization, this charge is distributed in pointlike units of quarter-integer magnitude, which we identify with tetratic disclinations located at the end points and nodes. This coexisting nematic and tetratic order is analyzed with the help of extensive Monte Carlo simulations for a broad range of two-dimensional confining geometries as well as colloidal experiments, showing how the observed defect networks can be universally reconstructed from simple building blocks. We further find that the curvature of the confining wall determines the anchoring behavior of grain boundaries, such that the number of nodes in the emerging networks and the location of their end points can be tuned by changing the number and smoothness of corners, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:05:15Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:c03fdc9f-11fe-49de-8ba6-afd419e37fd5 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:05:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c03fdc9f-11fe-49de-8ba6-afd419e37fd52022-04-26T11:30:51ZTopology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystalsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c03fdc9f-11fe-49de-8ba6-afd419e37fd5EnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Physical Society2021Monderkamp, PAWittmann, RCortes, LBGAarts, DGALSmallenburg, FLöwen, HWe propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization, this charge is distributed in pointlike units of quarter-integer magnitude, which we identify with tetratic disclinations located at the end points and nodes. This coexisting nematic and tetratic order is analyzed with the help of extensive Monte Carlo simulations for a broad range of two-dimensional confining geometries as well as colloidal experiments, showing how the observed defect networks can be universally reconstructed from simple building blocks. We further find that the curvature of the confining wall determines the anchoring behavior of grain boundaries, such that the number of nodes in the emerging networks and the location of their end points can be tuned by changing the number and smoothness of corners, respectively. |
| spellingShingle | Monderkamp, PA Wittmann, R Cortes, LBG Aarts, DGAL Smallenburg, F Löwen, H Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title | Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title_full | Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title_fullStr | Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title_short | Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| title_sort | topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT monderkamppa topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals AT wittmannr topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals AT corteslbg topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals AT aartsdgal topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals AT smallenburgf topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals AT lowenh topologyoforientationaldefectsinconfinedsmecticliquidcrystals |