2017/07/14 by Fred Fu, Fu, Fred, Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir +1
Engineering · Materials Science · #Advanced Materials and Mechanics #Block Copolymer Self-Assembly #Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Liquid Crystal Research Advancements #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1707.04641
openalex publication_date 2017/07/14 · openalex created_date 2017/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Dynamic simulations of the isotropic-nematic phase transformation of liquid crystal droplets under homeotropic anchoring are found to predict chiral symmetry-breaking dynamics. These observations occur when using material parameters for pentyl-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) but not under the single elastic constant approximation of this material, frequently used in simulation. The twisting dynamic process occurs during the relaxation of the domain from an unstable radial texture to a stable uniform texture and involves simultaneous defect loop motion and twisting of the bulk nematic texture.