Self-Assembly and Nonlinear Dynamics of Dimeric Colloidal Rotors in Cholesterics
arXiv:1201.0947 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.267802
Abstract
We study by simulation the physics of two colloidal particles in a cholesteric liquid crystal with tangential order parameter alignment at the particle surface. The effective force between the pair is attractive at short range and favors assembly of colloid dimers at specific orientations relative to the local director field. When pulled through the fluid by a constant force along the helical axis, we find that such a dimer rotates, either continuously or stepwise with phase-slip events. These cases are separated by a sharp dynamical transition and lead, respectively, to a constant or an ever-increasing phase lag between the dimer orientation and the local nematic director.
4 + 5 pages
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- Magnetically responsive gourd-shaped colloidal particles in cholesteric liquid crystals
- Rheology of an inverted cholesteric droplet under shear flow
- Colloidal Particles at Chiral Liquid Crystal Interfaces