Interfacial and morphological features of a twist-bend nematic drop.

In this experimental and theoretical study, we examine the equilibrium shapes of quasi-two-dimensional twist-bend nematic (Ntb) drops formed within a planarly aligned nematic layer of the liquid crystal CB7CB. Initially, at the setting point of the Ntb phase, the drops assume a nonequilibrium cusped elliptical geometry with the major axis orthogonal to the director of the surrounding nematic fluid; this growth is governed principally by anisotropic heat diffusion. The drops attain equilibrium through thermally driven dynamical evolution close to their melting temperature. They are associated with a characteristic twin-striped morphology that transforms into the familiar focal conic texture as the temperature is lowered. At equilibrium, large millimetric drops are tactoidlike, elongated along the director of the surrounding nematic fluid. This geometry is explained using a mathematical model that features two dimensionless parameters, of which one is the structural cone angle of the Ntb phase and the other is the relative strength of mismatch elastic energy at the drop's interface. Both parameters are extracted from the observations by measuring the aspect ratio of the equilibrium shapes and the inner corner angle of the cusps.

Effect of waveform of the driving field on electroconvection near the dielectric inversion frequency.

This paper concerns the instability behavior of a nematic liquid crystal in the region of dielectric inversion frequency for different waveforms of the exciting electric field. The critical frequency separating the regimes of dielectric and electroconvective primary bifurcation states shows a notable dependence on the waveform. In particular, it is found to undergo a large downshift for square-wave and sawtooth-wave fields as compared to sine-wave and triangle-wave fields. This seems to underscore the significance of harmonics in nonsinusoidal fields for the evolution of patterned electroconvective states. The study also deals with the flow pattern associated with the periodic state and the sequence of secondary instabilities occurring at higher fields to emphasize the role of the Carr-Helfrich mechanism for the instabilities in this region. The relevance of dielectric heating to the formation of transient structures is also pointed out.

Myelin structures formed by thermotropic smectic liquid crystals.

We report on transient structures, formed by thermotropic smectic-A liquid crystals, resembling the myelin figures of lyotropic lamellar liquid crystals. The thermotropic myelin structures form during the solubilization of a smectic-A droplet in an aqueous phase containing a cationic surfactant at concentrations above the critical micelle concentration. Similar to the lyotropic myelin figures, the thermotropic myelins appear in an optical microscope as flexible tubelike structures growing at the smectic/aqueous interface. Polarizing microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy show that the smectic layers are parallel to the tube surface and form a cylindrically bent arrangement around a central line defect in the tube. We study the growth behavior of this new type of myelins and discuss similarities to and differences from the classical lyotropic myelin figures.

Polarity-sensitive transient patterned state in a twisted nematic liquid crystal driven by very low frequency fields.

We report, for a rodlike nematic liquid crystal with small positive dielectric and conductivity anisotropies, and in the 90°-twisted configuration, low frequency (<2 Hz) square wave electric field generated Carr-Helfrich director modulation appearing transiently over a few seconds at each polarity reversal and vanishing almost completely under steady field conditions. Significantly, the instability is polarity sensitive, with the maximum distortion localized in the vicinity of the negative electrode, rather than in the midplane of the layer. This is revealed by the wave vector alternating in the two halves of the driving cycle between the alignment directions at the two substrates. Besides the Carr-Helfrich mechanism, quadrupolar flexoelectric polarization arising under electric field gradient is strongly indicated as being involved in the development of the transient periodic order. Similar transient instability is also observed in other nematic compounds with varying combinations of dielectric and conductivity anisotropies, showing its general nature. The study also deals with various characteristics of the electro-optic effect that emerge from the temporal variation of optical response for different driving voltages, frequencies, and temperatures.

Solubilization of thermotropic liquid crystal compounds in aqueous surfactant solutions.

We study the micellar solubilization of three thermotropic liquid crystal compounds by immersing single drops in aqueous solutions of the ionic surfactant tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide. For both nematic and isotropic drops, we observe a linear decrease of the drop size with time as well as convective flows and self-propelled motions. The solubilization is accompanied by the appearance of small aqueous droplets within the nematic or isotropic drop. At low temperatures, nematic drops expell small nematic droplets into the aqueous environment. Smectic drops show the spontaneous formation of filament-like structures which resemble the myelin figures observed in lyotropic lamellar systems. In all cases, the liquid crystal drops become completely solubilized, provided the weight fraction of the liquid crystal in the system is not larger than a few percent. The solubilization of the liquid crystal drops is compared with earlier studies of the solubilization of alkanes in ionic surfactant solutions.

Convection-roll instability in spite of a large stabilizing torque.

Two electroconvection (EC) pattern morphologies--a cellular and a subsequent roll pattern--have been detected in the same frequency range in a nematic with positive permittivity and conductivity anisotropies. The frequency dependences of the onset voltages and critical wave numbers have been determined both for homeotropic and planar alignments. It has been proven that both pattern morphologies have a dielectric time symmetry. We also discuss possible sources for the pattern formation in the frame of both the isotropic (Felici-Benard) mechanism, as well as the standard model of EC.

Converse flexoelectric effect in bent-core nematic liquid crystals.

We report on the converse flexoelectric effect in two bent-core nematic liquid crystals with opposite dielectric anisotropies. The results are based on electro-optic investigations of inplane field-driven distortions in homeotropic samples (the Helfrich method). They are interpreted by an extension of the Helfrich theory that takes into account the higher order distortions. The bend flexocoefficient for both the compounds is of the usual order of magnitude as in calamitics, unlike in a previously investigated bent-core nematic for which giant values of the bend flexocoefficient are reported. In order to resolve this discrepancy, we propose a molecular model with nonpolar clusters showing quadrupolar flexoelectricity. The study also includes measurements on surface polarization instabilities in the dielectrically positive material; the splay flexocoefficient thereby deduced is also of the conventional order.

Electroconvection in a homeotropic bent-rod nematic liquid crystal beyond the dielectric inversion frequency.

We characterize the structural transitions in an initially homeotropic bent-rod nematic liquid crystal excited by ac fields of frequency f well above the dielectric inversion point fi. From the measured principal dielectric constants and electrical conductivities of the compound, the Carr-Helfrich conduction regime is anticipated to extend into the sub-megahertz region. Periodic patterned states occur through secondary bifurcations from the Freedericksz distorted state. An anchoring transition between the bend Freedericksz (BF) and degenerate planar (DP) states is detected. The BF state is metastable well above the Freedericksz threshold and gives way to the DP state, which persists in the field-off condition for several hours. Numerous +1 and -1 umbilics form at the onset of BF distortion, the former being largely of the chiral type. They survive in the DP configuration as linear defects, nonsingular in the core. In the BF regime, not far from fi, periodic Williams-like domains form around the umbilics; they drift along the director easy axis right from their onset. With increasing f, the wave vector of the periodic domains switches from parallel to normal disposition with respect to the c vector. Well above fi, a broadband instability is found.

Drifting periodic structures in a degenerate-planar bent-rod nematic liquid crystal beyond the dielectric inversion frequency.

We report on the electric-field-generated effects in the nematic phase of a twin mesogen formed of bent-core and calamitic units, aligned homeotropically in the initial ground state and examined beyond the dielectric inversion point. The bend-Freedericksz (BF) state occurring at the primary bifurcation and containing a network of umbilics is metastable; we focus here on the degenerate planar (DP) configuration that establishes itself at the expense of the BF state in the course of an anchoring transition. In the DP regime, normal rolls, broad domains, and chevrons (both defect-mediated and defect-free types) form at various linear defect-sites, in different regions of the frequency-voltage plane. A significant novel aspect common to all these patterned states is the sustained propagative instability, which does not seem explicable on the basis of known driving mechanisms.

Instabilities across the isotropic conductivity point in a nematic phenyl benzoate under AC driving.

We characterize the sequence of bifurcations generated by ac fields in a nematic layer held between unidirectionally rubbed ITO electrodes. The material, which possesses a negative dielectric anisotropy epsilona and an inversion temperature for electrical conductivity anisotropy sigmaa, exhibits a monostable tilted alignment near TIN, the isotropic-nematic point. On cooling, an anchoring transition to the homeotropic configuration occurs close to the underlying smectic phase. The field experiments are performed for (i) negative sigmaa and homeotropic alignment, and (ii) weakly positive sigmaa and nearly homeotropic alignment. Under ac driving, the Freedericksz transition is followed by bifurcation into various patterned states. Among them are the striped states that seem to belong to the dielectric regime and localized hybrid instabilities. Very significantly, the patterned instabilities are not excited by dc fields, indicating their possible gradient flexoelectric origin. The Carr-Helfrich mechanism-based theories that take account of flexoelectric terms can explain the observed electroconvective effects only in part.

Drifting undulations in an achiral smectic C liquid crystal driven by a static electric field.

We report a novel dc field-driven propagative instability associated with the thermally induced layer undulations of the smectic C phase in a phenyl benzoate. While the undulations are two-dimensional, the drift is observed only along the wave vector q parallel to the c director; undulations with orthogonal q and c remain stable. The drift, which is nonhysteretic, takes place in a hopping way between equilibrium positions; it has a well-defined threshold in a given region, but the threshold varies rather widely for different regions. The average propagation velocity increases linearly from zero with the control parameter epsilon until epsilon approximately 2 but tends to saturate thereafter. Significantly, the drift direction reverses on switching the field polarity. The mechanism responsible for the drift appears to involve a coupling between the transverse field gradients due to the conductivity anisotropy and the transverse component of the flexoelectric polarization.

Emergence of periodic order in electric-field-driven planar nematic liquid crystals: an exclusive ac effect absent in static fields.

We report, for a nematic liquid crystal with a low conductivity anisotropy, an ac field generated transition from a uniformly planar to a periodically modulated director configuration with the wave vector parallel to the initial director. Significantly, with unblocked electrodes, this instability is not excited by dc fields. Additionally, in very low frequency square wave fields, it occurs transiently after each polarity reversal, vanishing completely during field constancy. The time of occurrence of maximum distortion after polarity reversal decreases exponentially with voltage. The time dependence of optical phase change during transient distortion is nearly Gaussian. The pattern threshold Vc is linear in sqrt[f], f denoting the frequency; the critical wave number qc of the modulation scales nearly linearly as sqrt[f] to a peak at approximately 50 Hz before falling slightly thereafter. The observed Vc(f) and qc(f) characteristics differ from the predictions of the standard model (SM). The instability may be interpreted as a special case of the Carr-Helfrich distortion suppressed in static fields due to weak charge focusing and strong charge injection. Its transient nature in the low frequency regime is suggestive of the possible role of gradient flexoelectric effect in its occurrence. The study includes measurement of certain elastic and viscosity parameters relevant to the application of the SM.

Competing modes of instability in an electrically driven nematic liquid crystal with a small positive dielectric anisotropy.

Competing modes of electric-field-driven bifurcation have been examined in a planarly aligned nematic liquid crystal with a small positive dielectric anisotropy and large electrical conductivity. The line of bifurcation into the electroconvective state is linear in frequency not only up to the codimension-2 (C2) point but well beyond. This contrasts with the recent theoretical prediction of the absence of further bifurcations within the Freedericksz state, above the C2 frequency. Further, in the frequency regime beyond C2, within the space-filling electroconvective state, a strongly localized dynamical state (SLDS) appears at a voltage threshold which again is linear in frequency. Occurrence of the SLDS through a secondary forward bifurcation is significant in view of the reported observations on the so-called worms, an instability belonging to the SLDS, as the first form of convection seen at the primary subcritical bifurcation.