Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2-1988
Abstract
We discuss modulated phases that can occur in thin liquid-crystal films composed of tilted, chiral molecules. While the phase diagram depends on all orders of a Landau expansion we find that either a striped phase of parallel defect walls or a lattice of hexagonal unit cells containing disclinations and bounded by intersecting walls can occur. The striped phase can occur with either a positive or negative bend elastic constant depending on the underlying microscopic parameters. The transition into the modulated phase is, in general, continuous with infinite defect separation at the transition.
Publication Title
Physical Review Letters
Rights
© 1988 The American Physical Society.
Recommended Citation
Modulated phases in thin ferroelectric liquid-crystal films. Hinshaw Jr. G.A., Petschek R.G., Pelcovits R.A., Modulated phases in thin ferroelectric liquid-crystal films, 1988. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.60.1864