Defect Core Structures in Twisted Nematic and Twisted Chiral Liquid Crystals

Xuan Zhou, Guili Zheng, Zhidong Zhang

Department of Physics, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jmp.2013.42037                

Abstract

The defect structures of s = ±1/2 twist disclinations in twisted nematic and twisted chiral liquid crystals have been investigated within the Landau-de Gennes theory numerically. Our results show that there exists eigenvalue exchange across the defect core of both the two models. The defect core is essentially biaxial and never isotropic. The defect centre is uniaxial and is surrounded by a strong biaxial region.

Keywords

Disclinations; Eigenvalue Exchange; Defect Core; Landau-de Gennes Theory

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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