Freely Suspended Nematic and Smectic Films and Free-Standing Smectic Filaments in the Ferroelectric Nematic Realm

Keith G. Hedlund, Vikina Martinez, Xi Chen, Cheol S. Park, Joseph E. Maclennan, Matthew A. Glaser, Noel A. Clark
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Abstract

We show that stable, freely suspended liquid crystal films can be made from the ferroelectric nematic ($\mathrm{N_F}$) phase and from the recently discovered polar, lamellar $\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ and $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ phases. The $\mathrm{N_F}$ films display two-dimensional, smectic-like parabolic focal conic textures comprising director/polarization bend that are a manifestation of the electrostatic suppression of director splay in the film plane. In the $\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ and $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ phases, the smectic layers orient preferentially normal to the film surfaces, a condition never found in typical thermotropic or lyotropic lamellar LC phases, with the $\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ films exhibiting focal-conic fan textures mimicking the appearance of typical smectics in glass cells when the layers are oriented normal to the plates, and the $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ films showing a texture of plaquettes of uniform in-plane orientation where both bend and splay are suppressed, separated by grain boundaries. The $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ phase can also be drawn into thin filaments, in which X-ray scattering reveals that the smectic layer planes are normal to the filament axis. Remarkably, the filaments are mechanically stable even if they break, forming free-standing, fluid filaments supported only at one end. The unique architectures of these films and filaments are stabilized by the electrostatic self-interaction of the liquid crystal polarization field, which enables the formation of confined, fluid structures that are fundamentally different from those of their counterparts made using previously known liquid crystal phases.
铁电向列领域中的自由悬浮向列和 Smectic 薄膜以及独立 Smectic 细丝
我们的研究表明,铁电向列相($\mathrm{N_F}$)和最近发现的极性、片状的$\mathrm{SmZ_A}$和$\mathrm{SmA_F}$相可以制成稳定、自由悬浮的液晶薄膜。$mathrm{N_F}$ 薄膜显示出二维的、类似于谱线的抛物线焦圆锥纹理,其中包括导线/极化弯曲,这是静电抑制导线在薄膜平面上飞溅的表现。在$\mathrm{SmZ_A}$和$\mathrm{SmA_F}$相中,共晶层的方向优先于薄膜表面的法线,这是典型的各向同性或各向同性层状液相中从未出现过的情况、$\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ 薄膜显示了焦锥扇形纹理,模仿了玻璃细胞中典型的共晶层(当共晶层的方向与板面垂直时)的外观;而 $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ 薄膜则显示了均匀面内取向的斑块纹理,其中弯曲和飞溅都被抑制,并被晶界分隔开来。这种${mathrm{SmA_F}$相还可以被拉成细丝,X射线散射显示其中的胶凝层平面与细丝轴线垂直。这些薄膜和细丝的独特结构是由液晶极化场的静电自相互作用稳定的,这使得它们能够形成封闭的流体结构,而这种结构与使用以前已知的液晶相制造的同类结构有着本质的区别。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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