Related papers: Polar Smectic Films
Low dimensional structures comprised of ferroelectric (FE) PbTiO$_3$ (PTO) and quantum paraelectric SrTiO$_3$ (STO) are hosts to complex polarization textures such as polar waves, flux-closure domains and polar skyrmion phases. Density…
This paper explores different photo-bending shapes in polydomain nematic glass. The motivation is to explain the phenomenon in experiment [1] under polarized light in which a nematic film curls into an circular arc, like part of a…
The liquid crystal octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) was doped with the chiral agent CB15 and spin-coated onto a substrate treated for planar alignment of the director, resulting in a film of thickness several hundred nm in the smectic-A phase. In…
We are concerned with the modification of liquid crystalline and polar order in SmC* liquids by illumination. In particular we show that non-uniformity due to absorption and also dynamics, can be complex. The variation of polarization with…
Long-scale dynamic fluctuation phenomena in freely suspended films is analyzed. We consider isotropic films that, say, can be pulled from bulk smectic A liquid crystals. The key feature of such objects is possibility of bending deformations…
The glass transition temperature and its connection to statistical properties of confined and free-standing polymer films of varying thickness containing unentangled to highly entangled bead-spring chains are studied by molecular dynamics…
Crystallization is a key for ferroelectricity which is a collective behavior of microscopic electric dipoles. On the other hand, uncontrolled crystallization leads to uneven morphology and random crystal orientations, which undermines the…
In search for novel nematic materials, a laterally linked H-shaped liquid crystal dimer have been synthesized and characterized. The distinct feature of the material is a very broad temperature range (about 50 oC) of the nematic phase,…
By means of spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy (SPLEEM) we show that the magnetic easy-axis of one to three atomic-layer thick cobalt films on ruthenium crystals changes its orientation twice during deposition: one-monolayer and…
It is investigated the formation of the phase composition and structure in the nanoscaled CoSbx (30 nm) films deposited by the method of molecular-beam epitaxy on the substrates of the oxidated monocrystalline silicon at 200 C and following…
We have studied the nucleation and the physical properties of a -1/2 wedge disclination line near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal. The position of the disclination line has been related to the material parameters…
Due to the intertwining between electronic nematic and elastic degrees of freedom, lattice defects and structural inhomogeneities commonly found in crystals can have a significant impact on the electronic properties of nematic materials.…
Slip-boundary effects on the polar liquid film motor (PLFM) -- a novel micro-fluidic device with important implications for advancing knowledge on liquid micro-film's structure, dynamics, modeling and technology -- are studied. We develop a…
Spatially localised defect structures emerge spontaneously in a hydrodynamic description of an active polar fluid comprising polar 'actin' filaments and 'myosin' motor proteins that (un)bind to filaments and exert active contractile…
A nonlinear optical medium results by the collective orientation of liquid crystal molecules tightly coupled to a transparent photoconductive layer. We show that such a medium can give a large gain, thus, if inserted in a ring cavity, it…
We report the observation of a premelting transition at chemically sharp solid-liquid interfaces using molecular-dynamics simulations. The transition is observed in the solid-Al/liquid-Pb system and involves the formation of a liquid…
The smectic C (smC) phase represents a unique class of liquid crystal phases characterised by the layered arrangement of molecules with tilted orientations with respect to layer normals. Building upon the real-valued tensorial smectic A…
Skyrmions are twirling magnetic textures whose non-trivial topology leads to particle-like properties promising for information technology applications. Perhaps the most important aspect of interacting particles is their ability to form…
We examine the profile of a liquid front of a film that is dewetting a solid substrate. Since volume is conserved, the material that once covered the substrate is accumulated in a rim close to the three phase contact line. Theoretically,…
We explain theoretically peculiarities of the smectic A -- hexatic B equilibrium phase coexistence in a finite temperature range recently observed experimentally in free standing smectic films [I.A.Zaluzhnyy et al., Physical Review E,…