Related papers: Modulated nematic structures induced by chirality …
We report on experimental and computational investigations of the domain structure of ~0.2 x 0.2 x 8 {\mu}m single-crystal Ni nanowires (NWs). The Ni NWs were grown by a thermal chemical vapor deposition technique that results in…
The quadrupolar splittings of perdeuteriated n-decane dissolved in nematic phases formed by mesogenic dimers of the CBnCB series, for n=7,9,10,11 are measured throughout the entire temperature range of these phases. The results of the…
The emergence of ferroelectric mesophases in non-chiral liquid crystal (LCs) has sparked fundamental interest in the molecular mechanisms governing polarity. In this study, we investigate how terminal molecular groups influence the…
There is a recent interest in studying odd elasticity in soft solids. Current focus has been on simple solids. However, many soft solids are structured and can exhibit nematic elasticity or viscoelasticity. Here we generalize the concept of…
Molecular chirality leads to a wonderful variety of equilibrium structures, from the simple cholesteric phase to the twist-grain-boundary phases, and it is responsible for interesting and technologically important materials like…
We investigate the nematic and loop-current type orders that may arise as vestigial precursor phases in a model with an underlying pair-density wave (PDW) instability. We discuss how such a vestigial phase gives rise to a highly anisotropic…
We study the phase behaviour of cholesteric liquid crystal shells with different geometries. We compare the cases of tangential and no anchoring at the surface, focussing on the former case, which leads to a competition between the…
In the hexagonal columnar phase of chiral polymers a bias towards cholesteric twist competes with braiding along an average direction. When the chirality is strong, topological defects proliferate, leading to either a tilt grain boundary…
We study the phase ordering colloids suspended in a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal below the clearing point Tni and the resulting aggregated structure. Small (150nm) PMMA particles are dispersed in a classical liquid crystal matrix,…
We find exact solutions to nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in the presence of self-steepening and self-frequency shift. These include periodic solutions and localized solutions of dark-bright type which can be {\emph{chiral}}, and…
Odd elasticity encompasses active elastic systems whose stress-strain relationship is not compatible with a potential energy. As the requirement of energy conservation is lifted from linear elasticity, new anti-symmetric (odd) components…
The twist-bend nematic liquid crystal phase is a three-dimensional fluid in which achiral bent molecules spontaneously form an orientationally ordered macroscopically chiral heliconical winding of molecular scale pitch, in absence of…
Plasmonic chirality exhibits great potential for novel nanooptical devices due to the generation of a strong chiroptical response. Previous reports on plasmonic chirality explanations are mainly based on phase retardation and coupling. We…
The study of liquid crystals at equilibrium has led to fundamental insights into the nature of ordered materials, as well as to practical applications such as display technologies. Active nematics are a fundamentally different class of…
Colloidal particles disturb the alignment of rod-like molecules of liquid crystals, giving rise to long-range interactions that minimize the free energy of distorted regions. Particle shape and topology are known to guide this self-assembly…
We study a continuum model of an extensile active nematic to show that mesoscale turbulence develops in two stages: (i) ordered regions undergo an intrinsic hydrodynamic instability generating walls, lines of stong bend deformations, (ii)…
The emerging field of orbitronics aims at generating and controlling currents of electronic orbital angular momentum (OAM) for information processing. Structurally chiral topological crystals could be particularly suitable orbitronic…
Chiral molecules form a number of non-chiral structures, the simplest being an isotropic fluid phase. In a mesophase of achiral molecules the fluctuations will on average be achiral as well: left-handed twists and right-handed twists will…
We compare within an unifying formalism the dynamical properties of modulated and composite aperiodic (incommensurate) crystals. We discuss the concept of inner polarization and we define an inner polarization parameter beta that…
The effect of cylindrical confinement on the phase behaviour of a system of parallel hard rods is studied using Onsager's second virial theory. The hard rods are represented as hard cylinders of diameter $D$ and length $L$, while the…