Light-controlled skyrmions and torons as reconfigurable particles
Abstract
Topological solitons, such as skyrmions, arise in field theories of systems ranging from Bose-Einstein condensates to optics, particle physics, and cosmology, but they are rarely accessible experimentally. Chiral nematic liquid crystals provide a platform to study skyrmions because of their natural tendency to form twisted structures arising from the lack of mirror symmetry at the molecular level. However, large-scale dynamic control and technological utility of skyrmions remain limited. Combining experiments and numerical modeling of chiral liquid crystals with optically controlled helical pitch, we demonstrate that low-intensity, unstructured light can control stability, dimensions, interactions, spatial patterning, self-assembly, and dynamics of these topological solitons.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1910.08045,
title = {Light-controlled skyrmions and torons as reconfigurable particles},
author = {Hayley R. O. Sohn and Changda D. Liu and Ivan I. Smalyukh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1910.08045},
year = {2019}
}