How achiral liquid crystals twist to accommodate confinements
* SPEAKERS
Name
Affiliation
E-mail
JoonWoo Jeong
UNIST
* HOST(Applicant)
Name
Affiliation
E-mail
Yongseok Jho
APCTP
yongseokjho(at)gmail.com
* DATE / TIME
2015-04-29, 10:30am
* ABSTRACT
Confined liquid crystals (LC) provide an excellent platform not only for technological applications but also for study of LC properties, such as bulk elasticity, surface anchoring, and topological defects. In this work, lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs) are confined in spherical droplets and cylindrical capillaries, and their director configurations are investigated systematically using optical microscopy and numerical calculations. As a result of the confinements’ boundary conditions (e.g., geometry and anchoring) and the unusual elastic properties of the LCLCs, the achiral LCLCs spontaneously exhibit chiral-symmetry-broken configurations. Additionally, we discuss other newly observed structures: 1) faceted LCLC droplets in columnar phase, 2) domain-wall-like defects separating regions of opposite handedness, and 3) another chiral configuration having a double helix of disclination lines. These findings deepen our understanding of the interplay of anisotropic elasticity, confinement, and frustration. Furthermore, since LCLCs are water-loving, this study takes steps towards tapping applications for liquid crystals in aqueous environments. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation through DMR-1205463 and DMR-1120901
