Related papers: Displays and antiferroelectric liquid crystals
The ability to manipulate polar entities with multiple external fields opens exciting possibilities for emerging functionalities and novel applications in spin systems, photonics, metamaterials, and soft matter. Liquid crystals (LCs),…
Many bent-core nematic liquid crystals exhibit unusual physical properties due to the presence of smectic clusters, known as "cybotactic" clusters in the nematic phase. Effect of these clusters on complex shear modulus ($G^*(\omega)$) of…
Ferroelectric nematic (NF) phase and related polar liquid-crystalline phases form a new class of strongly polarized yet fluid soft matter. Well-recognized heliconical ferroelectric phases such as NTBF and SmC_P^H exist, but their…
In thin films of smectic-C liquid crystals, localized regions containing additional smectic layers form circular inclusions that carry a topological charge. Such inclusions nucleate a companion topological defect. These inclusion-defect…
The pronounced light-matter interactions in photonic crystals make them interesting as opto-fludic "building blocks" for lab-on-a-chip applications. We show how conducting electrolytes cause dissipation and smearing of the…
Using Monte Carlo simulation methods, we explore the role of molecular shape in the phase behavior of liquid crystals and the electroclinic effect. We study a "bent-rod" mesogen shaped like the letter Z, composed of seven soft spheres…
Microscopy observations show that suspensions of synthetic and natural nano-layered smectite clay particles submitted to a strong external electric field undergo a fast and extended structuring. This structuring results from the interaction…
Flagellated microswimmers B. Subtilis dispersed in a nematic phase of a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal form a living liquid crystal (LLC). The combination of the passive and active components allows us to analyze how the active…
The recent discovery of ferroelectric nematics-genuine 3D ferroelectric fluids-has underscored the importance of electrostatic interactions in shaping the physical behaviour of soft matter systems. In this paper, we investigate the…
In a dual-frequency liquid crystal (DFLC), when the frequency of the applied voltage is more than a critical value ($f_c$), the dielectric anisotropy of the material changes from positive to negative. This causes the director to switch its…
We report on a comprehensive computer simulation study of the liquid-crystal phase behaviour of purely repulsive, semi-flexible rod-like particles. For the four aspect ratios we consider, the particles form five distinct phases depending on…
The recent discovery of the ferroelectric splay nematic phase has opened the door to experimental investigation of one of the most searched liquid crystal phases in decades, with high expectations for future applications. However, at this…
We investigated the properties of dichroic cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) being in external static magnetic field directed along helix axis. We have shown that in the case of the wavelength dependence of magneto-optic activity…
Synchrotron x-ray scattering studies of anti-ferroelectric nanoregions (AFR) as fluctuations, which give rise to 1/2(hk0) superlattice reflections (alpha spots), were systematically performed in Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) ferroelectric relaxor.…
The character of the ground state of an antiferromagnetic insulator is fundamentally altered upon addition of even a small amount of charge. The added charges agglomerate along domain walls at which the spin correlations, which may or may…
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.…
The bent-core liquid crystals (LCs) are highly regarded as the next-generation materials for electro-optic devices. The nematic (N) phase of these LCs possesses highly ordered smectic-like cybotactic clusters which are promising in terms of…
The twist-bend nematic (Ntb) phase is a recent addition to the nematic (N) phases of liquid crystals (LCs). A net polar order in the Ntb phase under an external electric field was predicted in several recent theoretical studies but yet to…
We discuss the front propagation in ferroelectric chiral smectics (SmC*) subjected to electric and magnetic fields applied parallel to smectic layers. The reversal of the electric field induces the motion of domain walls or fronts that…
Focal conic domains (FCDs) in smectic-A liquid crystals have drawn much attention both for their exquisitely structured internal form and for their ability to direct the assembly of micro- and nanomaterials in a variety of patterns. A key…