Thermodynamically Stable Blue Phases
Soft Condensed Matter
2011-01-31 v1
Abstract
We show theoretically that flexoelectricity stabilizes blue phases in chiral liquid crystals. Induced internal polarization reduces the elastic energy cost of splay and bend deformations surrounding singular lines in the director field. The energy of regions of double twist is unchanged. This in turn reduces the free energy of the blue phase with respect to that of the chiral nematic phase, leading to stability over a wider temperature range. The theory explains the discovery of large temperature range blue phases in highly flexoelectric "bimesogenic" and "bent-core" materials, and predicts how this range may be increased further.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1101.5588,
title = {Thermodynamically Stable Blue Phases},
author = {F. Castles and S. M. Morris and E. M. Terentjev and H. J. Coles},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.5588},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures