Tetrahedratic cross-couplings: novel physics for banana liquid crystals

Helmut R. Brand, Harald Pleiner and P.E. Cladis

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2005, vol. 351, issue 2, 189-197

Abstract: Liquid crystal phases (LCs) formed by achiral bent-core molecules (banana LCs) are distinguishable from those of their classical (i.e., rod/disc-shaped) counterparts with only quadrupolar order. We argue that the interplay between tetrahedratic (octupolar) and quadrupolar order clarifies the physics of banana LCs sufficiently to account for two effects only observed in achiral banana LCs: a 100 times larger field-induced anisotropy than observed in classical LCs and ambidextrous chirality where left- and right-handed chiral domains co-exist.

Keywords: Octupolar order; Orientational order of liquid crystals; Electric and magnetic field effects on order; Transitions in liquid crystals; Nonequilibrium phenomena (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:351:y:2005:i:2:p:189-197

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.12.027

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