Chiral ground states of ferroelectric liquid crystals

Abstract

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are formed by achiral molecules with large dipole moments. Its three-dimensional orientational order is universally described as unidirectionally polar. We demonstrate that the ground state of ferroelectric nematic unconstrained by externally imposed alignment directions is chiral, with left- and right-hand twists of polarization. Although the helicoidal deformations and defect walls separating domains of opposite handedness increase the elastic energy, the twists reduce the electrostatic energy and become weaker when the material is doped with ions. The study shows that the polar orientational order of molecules could trigger chirality in the soft matter with no chemically induced chiral centers.

24 pages, 13 figures

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• Splay-bend elastic inequalities shape tactoids, toroids, umbilics, and conic section walls in paraelectric, twist-bend, and ferroelectric nematics
• Double Splay Nematic Order in Confined Polar Fluids
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• Ferri- and Ferro-Electric Switching in Spontaneously Chiral Polar Liquid Crystals
• Polarity from the Bottom Up: A Computational Framework for Predicting Spontaneous Polar Order
• Half-integer Topological Defects Paired via String Micelles in Polar Liquids
• Spontaneous Cholesteric Phase in Ferroelectric Nematic Liquid Crystals: Preference for Integer Number of Pitches
• Bernoulli principle in ferroelectrics
• Deformed states in paraelectric and ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals
• Polar and apolar light-induced alignment of ferroelectric nematic at photosensitive polymer substrate