Particle-resolved topological defects of smectic colloidal liquid crystals in extreme confinement

Colloidal rod-like mesogens make the study of liquid crystal structures available to simple optical microscopy. Wittmann et al. study topological defects in smectic phases under annular confinement and reveal a remarkable, quantitative agreement with a theoretic density functional description.

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: René Wittmann, Louis B. G. Cortes, Hartmut Löwen, Dirk G. A. L. Aarts
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20842-5