Related papers: Bi-layer-dimerized chiral liquid crystals
We consider micro- and macro- phase separation in blends of AB and BC diblock copolymers. We show that, depending on architecture, a number of phase diagram topologies are possible. Microphase separation or macrophase separation can occur,…
We formulate a simple Landau type model describing macroscopic behaviour recently discovered new smectic phases composed of achiral bent-shaped molecules. Films of such smectics exhibit three types of ordering related to dipole…
We present a theoretical model which describes the polarization modulated and layer undulated structure of the B7 phase and gives the phase transition from the synclinic ferroelectric B2 phase to the B7 phase as observed experimentally. The…
The discovery of fluid states of matter with spontaneous bulk polar order is appreciated as a major discovery in the fields of soft matter and liquid crystals. Typically, this manifests as polar order superimposed atop conventional phase…
We carry out Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the effect of molecular shape on liquid-crystal order. In our approach, each model mesogen consists of several soft spheres bonded rigidly together. The arrangement of the spheres may be…
Experimental and modeling/simulation studies of phase equilibrium and growth morphologies of novel polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) mixtures of PS (polystyrene) and liquid crystals that exhibit a direct isotropic/smectic-A (lamellar)…
We report the nematic and smectic ordering in a new aqueous suspension of monolayer $\alpha$-Zirconium phosphate platelets possessing a high polydispersity in diameter but uniform thickness. We observe an isotropic--nematic transition as…
Smectic liquid crystals are materials formed by stacking deformable, fluid layers. Though smectics prefer to have flat, uniformly-spaced layers, boundary conditions can impose curvature on the layers. Since the layer spacing and curvature…
The phase diagram of the prototype antiferroelectric liquid crystal MHPOBC in dependence of enantiomeric excess was measured. It was shown that the SmCbeta phase in very pure samples is the SmCFI2 phase with a four layer structure, and only…
The chiral phase transition at a certain critical temperature is a restoration mechanism of the chiral symmetry, broken by the nonzero mass of quarks and mesons. The transition can be studied through several models, among which are the…
Liquid crystal materials exhibiting up to three nematic phases are reported. Dielectric response measurements show that while the lower temperature nematic phase has ferroelectric order and the highest temperature nematic phase is apolar,…
Partially phase-separated liquid-crystal/polymer dispersions display highly fibrillar domain morphologies that are dramatically different from the typical structures found in isotropic mixtures. To explain this, we numerically explore the…
The phase diagram of binary mixtures of particles interacting via a pair potential of parallel dipoles is computed at zero temperature as a function of composition and the ratio of their magnetic susceptibilities. Using lattice sums, a rich…
Phase separation of sequence-disordered liquid crystalline polymers, a promising class of technological and biological relevance, is studied by field theory, and thermodynamic mechanisms responsible for orientational ordering observed in…
We consider the shear flow of well-aligned one-component smectic phases, such as thermotropic smectics and lamellar diblock copolymers, below the critical region. We show that, as a result of thermal fluctuations of the layers, parallel…
The liquid-to-ordered phase transition in a bilayer system of fermions is studied within the context of a recently proposed density-functional theory [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 92}, 023614 (2015)]. In each two-dimensional layer, the fermions…
The possible symmetries of the biaxial nematic phase are examined against the implications of the presently available experimental results. Contrary to the widespread notion that biaxial nematics have orthorhombic symmetry, our study shows…
Strongly dipolar mesogenic compounds with a chiral center located in a lateral alkyl chain were synthesized, and shown to form the ferroelectric nematic phase. The presence of molecular chirality induced a helical structure in both the N…
We report the smectic $A_F$, a new liquid crystal phase of the ferroelectric nematic realm. The smectic $A_F$ is a phase of small polar, rod-shaped molecules which form two-dimensional fluid layers spaced by approximately the mean molecular…
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.…