Theory of Polar Blue Phases
arXiv:1405.5584 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.237801
Abstract
In liquid crystals, if flexoelectric couplings between polar order and director gradients are strong enough, the uniform nematic phase can become unstable to formation of a modulated polar phase. Previous theories have predicted two types of modulation, twist-bend and splay-bend; the twist-bend phase has been found in recent experiments. Here, we investigate other types of modulation, using lattice simulations and Landau theory. In addition to twist-bend and splay-bend, we also find polar blue phases, with 2D or 3D modulations of both director and polar order. We compare polar blue phases with chiral blue phases, and discuss opportunities for observing them experimentally.
References in corpus (5)
- Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation
- A Twist-Bend Chiral Helix of 8nm Pitch in a Nematic Liquid Crystal of Achiral Molecular Dimers
- Statistical mechanics of bend flexoelectricity and the twist-bend phase in bent-core liquid crystals
- Thermodynamically Stable Blue Phases
- Flexoelectric blue phases
Cited by in corpus (22)
- First-Principles Experimental Demonstration of Ferroelectricity in a Thermotropic Nematic Liquid Crystal: Spontaneous Polar Domains and Striking Electro-Optics
- Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystalline phases
- Splay nematic phase
- Director Deformations, Geometric Frustration, and Modulated Phases in Liquid Crystals
- Elastic continuum theory: Fully understanding of the twist-bend nematic phases
- Comparing skyrmions and merons in chiral liquid crystals and magnets
- Modulated nematic structures induced by chirality and steric polarization
- Cholesteric shells: two-dimensional blue fog and finite quasicrystals
- Classifying local anisotropy formed by rigid molecules: symmetries and tensors
- Topological Phases and Curvature-Driven Pattern Formation in Cholesteric Shells
- Quasi-entropy by log-determinant covariance matrix and application to liquid crystals
- Thermotropic reentrant isotropy and antiferroelectricity in the ferroelectric nematic realm: Comparing RM734 and DIO
- Theoretical Remarks on Cybotactic Clusters of Bent-Core Nematic Liquid Crystals in 1D Settings
- Symmetry-consistent expansion of interaction kernels between rigid molecules
- Thermotropic reentrant isotropy and antiferroelectricity in the ferroelectric nematic material RM734
- Non-uniform localised distortions in generalised elasticity for liquid crystals
- A tensor model for nematic phases of bent-core molecules based on molecular theory
- Unvortex Lattice and Topological Defects in Rigidly Rotating Multicomponent Superfluids
- Onsager-theory-based dynamic model for nematic phases of bent-core molecules and star molecules
- Confinement Reveals Hidden Splay-Bend Order in Twist-Bend Nematics
- Symmetry Rules on Multipole Interactions under Crystallographic Point Groups and Application to Multiple- Multipole States
- Modulated nematic structures and chiral symmetry breaking in 2D