Related papers: Do the short helices exist in the nematic TB phase…
Infrared spectroscopy (IR) and quantum chemistry calculations, based on density functional theory (DFT) were used to study the structure and the molecular interactions in the nematic (N) and twist-bend (NTB) phases of thioether-linked…
We have numerically studied a liquid composed of achiral, bent-shaped molecules built of tangent spheres. The system is known to spontaneously break mirror symmetry, as it forms a macroscopically chiral, twist-bend nematic phase [Phys. Rev.…
We have carried out a spectroscopic study on a prototype ferroelectric nematic material (RM7343) doped with a non-polar chiral compound. The mixture presents two chiral nematic phases, one conventional (N*) and the other polar (NF*), whose…
In nodal-line semimetals, the gaps close along loops in ${\bf k}$ space, which are not at high-symmetry points. Typical mechanisms for the emergence of nodal lines involve mirror symmetry and the $\pi$ Berry phase. Here, we show via ab…
Recently we have observed in compounds of the 4,n-alkyloxybenzoic acid series, with the homologous index n ranging from 6 to 9, a texture transition in the nematic range which subdivides the nematic phase in two sub-phases displaying…
In the temperature-magnetic field phase diagram, the binary metallic compound MnSi exhibits three magnetic phases below Tc ~ 29 K. An unconventional helicoidal phase is observed in zero field. At moderate field intensity a conical phase…
We report the first evidence of the formation of niobium hydrides within niobium films on silicon substrates in superconducting qubits fabricated at Rigetti Computing. We combine complementary techniques including room and cryogenic…
Hard helices can be regarded as a paradigmatic elementary model for a number of natural and synthetic soft matter systems, all featuring the helix as their basic structural unit: from natural polynucleotides and polypeptides to synthetic…
Materials with tunable topological features, simple crystal structure and flexible synthesis, are in extraordinary demand towards technological exploitation of unique properties of topological nodal points. The controlled design of the…
Recent liquid-crystalline (LC) research is focused on structurally new molecular systems distinct from simple nematic or smectic phases. Sophisticated molecular shape may reveal structural complexity, combining helicity and polarity.…
The structure of the ferroelectric phase of undoped KTiOPO$_4$ and its solid solutions with zirconium and niobium is studied from first principles within the density functional theory. The second-order nonlinear susceptibility tensor and…
Electronic nematic phases have been proposed to occur in various correlated electron systems and were recently claimed to have been detected in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) conductance maps of the pseudogap states of the cuprate…
We present a simplified molecular model of mesogenic dimers consisting of two identical uniaxial mesogenic cores separated by a fixed-length spacer and allowed to assume only two, statistically equivalent, conformations which are non-planar…
We study experimentally and theoretically structural defects which are formed during the transition from a laser cooled cloud to a Coulomb crystal, consisting of tens of ions in a linear radio frequency trap. We demonstrate the creation of…
Hierarchically structured cellular solids have attracted increasing attention for their superior mass-specific mechanical properties. Using a remeshing-based continuum finite element (FE) framework, we reveal that two-scale metallic…
A model of filaments of the TGBA phase arising from the homeotropic smectic A phase and nucleating on the sample surface is proposed. The model is based on the concept of finite blocks of parallel smectic layers forming a helical structure.…
Defects ~10 nm in size, with number densities ~10^{10} cm^{-2}, form spontaneously beneath ion-milled, etched, or HF-dipped silicon surfaces examined in our Ti-ion getter-pumped transmission electron microscope (TEM) after exposure to air.…
We consider mixed symmetry superconducting phases in Dirac materials in the odd parity channel, where pseudoscalar and vector order parameters can coexist due to their similar critical temperatures when attractive interactions are of finite…
Observed under the polarizing microscope, the B7bis phase in the banana compound D14F3 [J.P. Bedel et al, Liq. Cryst., 27, 1411 (2000)] displays two types of textures of defects, namely (a): helical ribbons, that nucleate in large…
The newly discovered topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) harbor a complex band structure involving multiple Dirac cones. These materials are potentially highly tunable by external electric field, temperature or strain and could find…