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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Coexistence Of Two Colloidal Crystals At The Nematic-Liquid-Crystal-Air Interface, A. B. Nych, V. M. Pergamenshchik, B. I. Lev, V. G. Nazarenko, I. Muševič, M. Škarabot, Oleg Lavrentovich Oct 2013

Coexistence Of Two Colloidal Crystals At The Nematic-Liquid-Crystal-Air Interface, A. B. Nych, V. M. Pergamenshchik, B. I. Lev, V. G. Nazarenko, I. Muševič, M. Škarabot, Oleg Lavrentovich

Oleg Lavrentovich

Glycerol droplets at a nematic-liquid-crystal–air interface form two different lattices—hexagonal and dense quasihexagonal—which are separated by the energy barrier and can coexist. Director distortions around each droplet form an elastic dipole. The first order transition between the two lattices is driven by a reduction of the dipole-dipole repulsion through reorientation of these dipoles. The elastic-capillary attraction is essential for the both lattices. The effect has a many-body origin.


Monte Carlo Simulations Of Stable Point Defects In Hybrid Nematic Films, C. Chiccoli, Oleg Lavrentovich, P. Pasini, C. Zannoni Oct 2013

Monte Carlo Simulations Of Stable Point Defects In Hybrid Nematic Films, C. Chiccoli, Oleg Lavrentovich, P. Pasini, C. Zannoni

Oleg Lavrentovich

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations based exclusively on nearest-neighbor intermolecular interactions reveal the existence of stable long-range deformations and topological defects in a thin nematic film confined between two surfaces with antagonistic (normal and tangential) molecular orientations. Thus the MC technique allows one to describe a delicate balance of bulk elasticity and surface energy usually treated only with macroscopic theories.


Biaxial Nematic Order Induced By Smectic Fluctuations, C. Zhang, S. Chakraborty, T. Ostapenko, Samuel N. Sprunt, Antal Jakli, Jim T. Gleeson Oct 2013

Biaxial Nematic Order Induced By Smectic Fluctuations, C. Zhang, S. Chakraborty, T. Ostapenko, Samuel N. Sprunt, Antal Jakli, Jim T. Gleeson

Antal Jakli

We report on a series of measurements on the microscopic structure and the magneto-optical properties of a calamitic liquid crystalline compound in its nematic phase. Structural studies show the existence of short-range, tilted smectic order consistent with pretransitional effects above an underlying smectic phase. Concomitantly, magneto-optical results exhibit the existence of an optic axis not collinear with the uniaxial director. This apparent biaxial nature is discussed within the context of coupling between the tensor nematic and the smectic order parameters.


Optical Waveguiding In Bent-Core Liquid-Crystal Filaments, Jake Fontana, C. Bailey, Wolfgang Weissflog, I. Janossy, Antal Jakli Oct 2013

Optical Waveguiding In Bent-Core Liquid-Crystal Filaments, Jake Fontana, C. Bailey, Wolfgang Weissflog, I. Janossy, Antal Jakli

Antal Jakli

We demonstrate optical waveguiding in recently discovered free-standing bent-core liquid-crystal filaments. The bent-core liquid-crystal molecules in air self-assemble into a cylindrical geometry that is "solidlike" along the radial direction of the filament and liquid in the axial direction of the filament. These filaments are unique not only because they are fluids, but also because they are anisotropic. For this reason, their waveguiding properties not predictable need to be characterized. The light power transmitted through the filament was found to be independent of temperature from 180 degrees C to near room temperature. Initial defects of newly pulled filaments were found to …


Light-Induced Changes Of Optical And Electrical Properties In Bent-Core Azo Compounds, Antal Jakli, V. Prasad, D.S.S. Rao, Guangxun Liao, I. Janossy Oct 2013

Light-Induced Changes Of Optical And Electrical Properties In Bent-Core Azo Compounds, Antal Jakli, V. Prasad, D.S.S. Rao, Guangxun Liao, I. Janossy

Antal Jakli

We have studied the optical and electrical properties of two bent-core substances with an azo linkage in their cores. Pump-probe laser studies, direct textural observations, and spectrophotometric recordings show an initial decrease of light transmission, which at larger light intensities (similar to 1 mW/mm(2)) is followed by a bleaching. Simultaneously the electrical properties (electric conductivity, antiferroelectric polarization, switching threshold, and switching time) decreased monotonically with increasing light intensities. The monotonic decrease of electrical properties indicates that the darkening and bleaching have the same origin, namely, the photochemical isomerization of the azo linkage from the trans to the cis isomer. The …


Nematic Biaxiality In A Bent-Core Material, Hyungguen Yoon, Shin-Woong Kang, Ronald Y. Dong, Alberto Marini, Kattera A. Suresh, Mohan Srinivasarao, Satyendra Kumar Oct 2013

Nematic Biaxiality In A Bent-Core Material, Hyungguen Yoon, Shin-Woong Kang, Ronald Y. Dong, Alberto Marini, Kattera A. Suresh, Mohan Srinivasarao, Satyendra Kumar

Satyendra Kumar

The results of a recent investigation of the nematic biaxiality in a bent-core mesogen (A131) are in apparent disagreement with earlier claims. Samples of mesogen A131 used in the two studies were investigated with polarized optical microscopy, conoscopy, carbon-13 NMR, and crossover frequency measurements. The results demonstrate that textural changes associated with the growth of biaxial nematic order appear at similar to 149 degrees C. The Maltese cross observed in the conoscopic figure gradually splits into two isogyres at lower temperatures indicating phase biaxiality. Presence of the uniaxial to biaxial nematic phase transition is further confirmed by temperature trends of …


Onset And Evolution Of The Tilted Smectic Antiphase In A Polar Liquid-Crystal Binary Mixture, Yushan Shi, George Nounesis, Satyendra Kumar Oct 2013

Onset And Evolution Of The Tilted Smectic Antiphase In A Polar Liquid-Crystal Binary Mixture, Yushan Shi, George Nounesis, Satyendra Kumar

Satyendra Kumar

High-resolution x-ray diffraction studies of a binary mixture of the n = 8 and n = 10 homologs of alkoxyphenyl nitrobenzoyloxy benzoate DBnONO2 (52.6 mole % DB10ONO2) have been performed at the onset of the tilted smectic antiphase (Sm-C) upon cooling from the smectic-A(1) phase. Fluctuations of the two competing smectic orders are found to be related to monolayer and partial bilayer ordering. With decreasing temperature, the period of the antiphase in-plane modulation increases while the smectic layer normal tilts at an angle of +/-7 degrees with respect to the director. This tilt partially recovers upon the transition to the …


Unexpected Liquid Crystalline Behaviour Of Three-Ring Bent-Core Mesogens: Bis(4-Subst.-Phenyl) 2-Methyl-Iso-Phthalates, Wolfgang Weissflog, Ute Baumeister, Maria-Gabriela Tamba, Gerhard Pelzl, Horst Kresse, Rudolf Friedemann, Gunther Hempel, Ricardo Kurz, Matthias Roos, Kurt Merzwiler, Antal Jakli, Cuiyu Zhang, Nicholas Diorio, Ralf Stannarius, Alexey Eremin, Ulrike Kornek Jan 2012

Unexpected Liquid Crystalline Behaviour Of Three-Ring Bent-Core Mesogens: Bis(4-Subst.-Phenyl) 2-Methyl-Iso-Phthalates, Wolfgang Weissflog, Ute Baumeister, Maria-Gabriela Tamba, Gerhard Pelzl, Horst Kresse, Rudolf Friedemann, Gunther Hempel, Ricardo Kurz, Matthias Roos, Kurt Merzwiler, Antal Jakli, Cuiyu Zhang, Nicholas Diorio, Ralf Stannarius, Alexey Eremin, Ulrike Kornek

Antal Jakli

Three-ring bent-core bis(4-subst.-phenyl) 2-methyl-iso-phthalates exhibiting nematic, SmA and SmC phases are reported. The occurring mesophases have been identified by their optical textures and X-ray diffraction measurements which give also geometrical structural parameters like layer spacing and molecular tilt. Quantum chemical calculations on single molecules and X-ray structure analysis in the crystalline state indicate wide opening angles (about 155 degrees) of the molecular legs due to the lateral methyl group in position 2 of the central phenyl ring. However solid state NMR spectroscopy in the liquid crystalline phases finds stronger molecular bending (bending angle to be about 138 degrees in the …


Alignment Memory Of A Nematic Liquid Crystal And Thermal Isotropization Of The Surface Adsorbed Layer, A. B. Nych, D. Yu. Reznikov, O. P. Boiko, V. G. Nazarenko, V. M. Pergamenshchik, Philip Bos Dec 2007

Alignment Memory Of A Nematic Liquid Crystal And Thermal Isotropization Of The Surface Adsorbed Layer, A. B. Nych, D. Yu. Reznikov, O. P. Boiko, V. G. Nazarenko, V. M. Pergamenshchik, Philip Bos

Philip J. Bos

We use a digital image analysis of the schlieren textures to study the effect of memory of the surface anisotropy in a nematic-liquid-crystal cell and establish its relation to the surface adsorbed molecular layer. The anisotropy is induced on an isotropic glass surface by a flow of the nematic liquid. The proposed technique allows us to quantify the alignment and its changes under the effect of temperature. The temperature at which the memory of the alignment texture is lost is interpreted as the temperature of the full isotropization of the initial anisotropic surface layer adsorbed during the flow: the molecules …


Ester Type Banana-Shaped Liquid Crystalline Monomers: Synthesis And Physical Properties, Katalin Fodor-Csorba, Aniko Vajda, Antal Jakli, Christian Slugovc, Gregor Trimmel, Dietrich Demus, Eszter Gacz-Baitz, Sandor Holly, Giancarlo Galli Jun 2004

Ester Type Banana-Shaped Liquid Crystalline Monomers: Synthesis And Physical Properties, Katalin Fodor-Csorba, Aniko Vajda, Antal Jakli, Christian Slugovc, Gregor Trimmel, Dietrich Demus, Eszter Gacz-Baitz, Sandor Holly, Giancarlo Galli

Antal Jakli

New ester-type banana (bent-shaped) monomers, 1,3-phenylene bis[4'-(alken-1-yloxy)-biphenyl-4-carboxylate] s Ia - Vb, with different substituent(s) on the central phenyl ring (H, CH3, Cl or NO2) and alkenyl tails in the side arms ( decenyl or undecenyl) were prepared. The analogues IIIa - IVb with 4-chloro- or 4,6-dichloro-substituents exhibited a nematic phase, while Va, Vb with 2-nitro-substituent showed a B-7 phase at relatively low temperature. All the compounds were stable, no degradation or polymerization was observed under applied electric fields or heat treatments. Electro-hydrodynamic instabilities were observed in the nematic phase of each sample. In the B-7 phase of Vb there was …


Crossing Of Disclinations In Nematic Slabs, T. Ishikawa, Oleg Lavrentovich Jan 1998

Crossing Of Disclinations In Nematic Slabs, T. Ishikawa, Oleg Lavrentovich

Oleg Lavrentovich

It is shown experimentally that crossing and intercommutation of disclinations in a bounded nematic cell depend on surface orientation of the director and the relative strength of disclinations. Lines of opposite strength switch the pinned ends between the bounding plates and vanish independently of each other if the surface orientation is tangential. In contrast, tilted surface orientation preserves the stability of lines.