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Recent research on interfacial instabilities of smectic films has shown unexpected morphologies that are not fully explained by classical local equilibrium thermodynamics. Annealing focal conic domains can lead to conical pyramids, changing…
The engineering of new states of matter through Floquet driving has revolutionized the field of condensed matter physics. This technique enables the creation of hybrid topological states and ordered phases that are absent in normal systems.…
Liquid crystals offer many unique opportunities to study various phase transitions with continuous symmetry in the presence of quenched random disorder (QRD). The QRD arises from the presence of porous solids in the form of a random gel…
This contribution presents a diffuse framework for modeling cracks in heterogeneous media. Interfaces are depicted by static phase-fields. This concept allows the use of non-conforming meshes. Another phase-field is used to describe the…
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is increasingly used to study blood flows in patient-specific arteries for understanding certain cardiovascular diseases. The techniques work quite well for relatively simple problems, but need…
In our previous study, we demonstrated the existence of an unidentified ferroelectric smectic phase in the low-temperature region of the ferroelectric smectic A phase, where the layer spacing decreases with decreasing temperature. In the…
Soft modulated phases have been shown to undergo complex morphological transitions, in which layer remodeling induced by mean and Gaussian curvatures plays a major role. This is the case in smectic films under thermal treatment, where focal…
Nanoporous media exhibit structures significantly smaller than the wavelengths of visible light and can thus act as photonic metamaterials. Their optical functionality is not determined by the properties of the base materials, but rather by…
Topological photonics aims to utilize topological photonic bands and corresponding edge modes to implement robust light manipulation, which can be readily achieved in the linear regime of light-matter interaction. Importantly, unlike solid…
Valley photonic crystal (VPhC) waveguides have attracted much attention because of their ability to enable robust light propagation against sharp bends. However, their demonstration using a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor…
In chiral magnets, the magnetic textures surrounding domain walls exhibit a rich variety of structures, offering insights into fundamental physics and potential applications in spintronic devices. Conical spirals and related structures…
We demonstrate a variety of ordered patterns, including hexagonal structures and chains, formed by colloidal particles (droplets) at the free surface of a nematic liquid crystal (LC). The surface placement introduces a new type of particle…
Many objects of nanoscopic dimensions involve fluid-tethered chain interfaces. These systems are of interest for basic science and for several applications, in particular for design of nanodevices for specific purposes. We review recent…
Colloidal self-assembly -- the spontaneous organization of colloids into ordered structures -- has been considered key to produce next-generation materials. However, the present-day staggering variety of colloidal building blocks and the…
Self-assembly of nanoparticles can enable composites with pre-designed properties but remains challenged by reproducing structural diversity of atomic and molecular crystals. We combine anisotropic elastic and weakly screened electrostatic…
Using optical microscopy, phase shifting interferometry and atomic force microscopy, we demonstrate the existence of undulated structures in the meniscus of ferroelectric smectic-C* films. The meniscus is characterized by a periodic…
Pattern forming instabilities induced by ultralow frequency sinusoidal voltages were studied in a rod-like nematic liquid crystal by microscopic observations and simultaneous electric current measurements. Two pattern morphologies,…
The assembly of nanometer-sized building blocks into complex morphologies is not only of fundamental interest but also plays a key role in material science and nanotechnology. We show that the shape of self-assembled superstructures formed…
Photonic crystals (PhCs) have emerged as a popular platform for realizing various topological phases due to their flexibility and potential for device applications. In this article, we present a comprehensive classification of topological…
An opalic plasmonic sample, constituted by a hexagonal arrangement of metallized silica spheres, presents remarkable optical properties due to the mixing of periodic arrangement and singularities at the sphere touching points. It is…