Bivalent defect configurations in inhomogeneous nematic shells

Authors :: Alberto Fernandez-Nieves
Teresa Lopez-Leon
Vincenzo Vitelli
Vinzenz Koning
Gulliver (UMR 7083)
Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris)
Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Georgia Institute of Technology [Atlanta]
Instituut-Lorentz, Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands
Instituut-Lorentz, Universiteit Leiden
Source :: Soft Matter, Soft Matter, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, 9 (20), pp.4993. ⟨10.1039/c3sm27671f⟩
Publication Year :: 2012
Abstract: We present a theoretical study of the director fields and energetics of nematic liquid crystal shells with two pairs of surface defects. The pairs of defects can undergo abrupt transitions between a configuration of maximum separation to at state in which the defects are confined to the thinnest hemisphere. We construct a phase diagram that maps out the stability and coexistence of these two configurations as a function of shell thickness and thickness inhomogeneity. Our results compare favorably with the experimentally observed transitions in nematic double emulsion droplets and explain their hysteretic character.<br />12 pages, 16 figures

Language :: English
ISSN :: 1744683X and 17446848
Database :: OpenAIRE
Journal :: Soft Matter, Soft Matter, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, 9 (20), pp.4993. ⟨10.1039/c3sm27671f⟩
Accession number :: edsair.doi.dedup.....d386fc56b1a26c42eb8c5c2a48a53df7
Full Text :: https://doi.org/10.1039/c3sm27671f⟩