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Modeling dipolar and quadrupolar defect structures generated by chiral islands in freely suspended liquid crystal films

N. M. Silvestre1,2,*, P. Patrício3,2, M. M. Telo da Gama1,2, A. Pattanaporkratana4,5, C. S. Park4, J. E. Maclennan4, and N. A. Clark4

  • 1Departamento de Física da Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Professor Gama Pinto 2, P-1649-003 Lisboa Codex, Portugal
  • 2Centro de Física Teórica e Computacional, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Professor Gama Pinto 2, P-1649-003 Lisboa Codex, Portugal
  • 3Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Rua Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, P-1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal
  • 4Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309 USA
  • 5Physics Department, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand

  • *Electronic address: nunos@cii.fc.ul.pt
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Phys. Rev. E 80, 041708 – Published 30 October, 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.80.041708

Abstract

We report a detailed theoretical analysis of quadrupolar interactions observed between islands, which are disklike inclusions of extra layers, floating in thin, freely suspended smectic-C liquid crystal films. Strong tangential anchoring at the island boundaries results in a strength +1 chiral defect in each island and a companion −1 defect in the film—these forming a topological dipole. While islands of the same handedness form linear chains with the topological dipoles pointing in the same direction, as reported in the literature, islands with different handedness form compact quadrupolar structures with the associated dipoles pointing in opposite directions. The interaction between such heterochiral-island-defect pairs is complex, with the defects moving to minimize the director field distortion as the distance between the islands changes. The details of the interisland potential and the trajectories of the −1 defects depend strongly on the elastic anisotropy of the liquid crystal, which can be modified in the experiments by varying the material chirality of the liquid crystal. A Landau model that describes the energetics of freely mobile defects is solved numerically to find equilibrium configurations for a wide range of parameters.

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Phys. Rev. E 80, 041708– Published 30 October, 2009
  • Received 29 April 2009

© 2009 American Physical Society

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