| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50.43 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
We characterize the elastic contribution to the surface free energy of a nematic liquid crystal in the presence of a sawtooth substrate. Our findings are based on numerical minimization of the Landau-de Gennes model and analytical calculations on the Frank-Oseen theory. The nucleation of disclination lines (characterized by non-half-integer winding numbers) in the wedges and apexes of the substrate induces a leading order proportional to q ln q to the elastic contribution to the surface free-energy density, with q being the wave number associated with the substrate periodicity.
Description
Keywords
Phase-Transitions Alignment Orientation Defects Samples Films Layer
Citation
Romer-Enrique J M, Pham C, Patrício P. Scaling of the elastic contribution to the surface free energy of a nematic liquid crystal on a sawtoothed substrate.Physical Review E. 2010; 82 (1): Art. No. 011707 Part 1.