Chirality-Biased Point Defects Dynamics on a Disclination Line in a Nematic Liquid Crystal

Andrzej Zywocinski (1) , Katarzyna Pawlak (1) , Robert Holyst (2) , Patrick Oswald (3)

1 Institute of Physical Chemistry
2 Institute of Physical Chemistry
3 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon

Chiral additives in the nematic liquid crystal can alter the dynamics of point defects moving on a disclination line. They exert a constant force on defects, leading to the bimodal distribution of distances between them at long times. The evolution of the system of defects in the presence of chiral additives provides a very direct proof of the existence of repulsive forces between the defects at large distances. We find that addition of a sufficient amount of chiral compound removes all point defects from the system. The process is studied in the system of 8CB (4-n-octyl-4 '-cyanobiphenyl) doped with the chiral compound S811 (from Merck Co.) and in the computer simulations.

Keywords: Liquid Crystals; Defects; Chirality

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Soft Condensed Matter [cond-mat.soft]

Andrzej Zywocinski, Katarzyna Pawlak, Robert Holyst, Patrick Oswald. Chirality-Biased Point Defects Dynamics on a Disclination Line in a Nematic Liquid Crystal. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2005, 109 (19), pp.9712-9718. ⟨ensl-00181448⟩