Chiral Structures And Defects Of Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystals Induced By Saddle-Splay Elasticity

Authors

Z. S. Davidson
L. Kang
J. Jeong
T. Still
Peter J. Collings, Swarthmore CollegeFollow
T. C. Lubensky
A. G. Yodh

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-22-2015

Published In

Physical Review E

Abstract

An experimental and theoretical study of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs) confined in cylinders with degenerate planar boundary conditions elucidates LCLC director configurations. When the Frank saddle-splay modulus is more than twice the twist modulus, the ground state adopts an inhomogeneous escaped-twisted configuration. Analysis of the configuration yields a large saddle-splay modulus, which violates Ericksen inequalities but not thermodynamic stability. Lastly, we observe point defects between opposite-handed domains, and we explain a preference for point defects over domain walls.

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Z. S. Davidson et al. (2015). "Chiral Structures And Defects Of Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystals Induced By Saddle-Splay Elasticity". Physical Review E. Volume 91, Issue 5. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.050501
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-physics/242