Finite particle size drives defect-mediated domain structures in strongly confined colloidal liquid crystals

Ioana C. Gârlea, Pieter Mulder, José Alvarado, Oliver Dammone, Dirk G. A. L. Aarts, M. Pavlik Lettinga, Gijsje H. Koenderink and Bela M. Mulder ()
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Ioana C. Gârlea: FOM Institute AMOLF
Pieter Mulder: FOM Institute AMOLF
José Alvarado: FOM Institute AMOLF
Oliver Dammone: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford
Dirk G. A. L. Aarts: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford
M. Pavlik Lettinga: Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-3)
Gijsje H. Koenderink: FOM Institute AMOLF
Bela M. Mulder: FOM Institute AMOLF

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract When liquid crystals are confined to finite volumes, the competition between the surface anchoring imposed by the boundaries and the intrinsic orientational symmetry-breaking of these materials gives rise to a host of intriguing phenomena involving topological defect structures. For synthetic molecular mesogens, like the ones used in liquid-crystal displays, these defect structures are independent of the size of the molecules and well described by continuum theories. In contrast, colloidal systems such as carbon nanotubes and biopolymers have micron-sized lengths, so continuum descriptions are expected to break down under strong confinement conditions. Here, we show, by a combination of computer simulations and experiments with virus particles in tailor-made disk- and annulus-shaped microchambers, that strong confinement of colloidal liquid crystals leads to novel defect-stabilized symmetrical domain structures. These finite-size effects point to a potential for designing optically active microstructures, exploiting the as yet unexplored regime of highly confined liquid crystals.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12112

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