Colloidal particles at a nematic-isotropic interface: effects of confinement
Abstract
When captured by a flat nematic-isotropic interface, colloidal particles can be dragged by it. As a result spatially periodic structures may appear, with the period depending on a particle mass, size, and interface velocity~\cite{west.jl:2002}. If liquid crystal is sandwiched between two substrates, the interface takes a wedge-like shape, accommodating the interface-substrate contact angle and minimizing the director distortions on its nematic side. Correspondingly, particles move along complex trajectories: they are first captured by the interface and then `glide' towards its vertex point. Our experiments quantify this scenario, and numerical minimization of the Landau-de Gennes free energy allow for a qualitative description of the interfacial structure and the drag force.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0606169,
title = {Colloidal particles at a nematic-isotropic interface: effects of confinement},
author = {J. L. West and K. Zhang and A. Glushchenko and D. Andrienko and M. Tasinkevych and Y. Reznikov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0606169},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
7 pages, 9 figures