Abstract
Two qualitatively different SmA structures exhibiting herringbone-type layer patterns, to which we refer as the Defectless Smectic Herringbone (DSH) and the Dislocation Decorated Smectic Herringbone (DDSH) pattern are studied by a Landau-de Gennes-Ginzburg mesoscopic approach. Liquid crystal structures are described in terms of a nematic director field and a smectic complex order parameter. It is demonstrated that, in the proximity of the N-SmA phase transition, a melting of smectic layers could be realised even for relatively weakly-tilted smectic layers in DSH patterns (i.e. θt ≈ 100) for type I Sm4 phase. The width of melted region could be relatively large with respect to bulk values of the smectic characteristic lengths. In addition, a critical value of θt is determined at which a DDSH pattern is expected to appear.
Highlights
Recent years have brought increasing interest in soft nanocomposites [1]
This smectic pattern dislocations the smectic periodicity at x=0 is given by roughly mimics the experimentally obtained herringbone-type patterns studied in [14]. In such liquid crystalline (LC) configurations two qualitatively different equilibrium patterns could be formed, to which we refer as the Defectless Smectic Herringbone (DSH) pattern and the Dislocation Decorated Smectic
We demonstrate the changes in η ( x ) and θ ( x ) behavior on increasing temperature towards the N-smectic A (SmA) phase transition for θ t = 100 and κ = 0.1, where the initial configuration obtained for λ / d 0 = 1 is shown in figure 3b
Summary
Recent years have brought increasing interest in soft nanocomposites [1]. Typically, such systems consist of a soft matrix containing nanoparticles, where each component contributes a specific desired system’s property. Where the positive quantities K1, K2 and K3 are the splay, twist and bend Frank nematic elastic constants, respectively This contribution enforces a homogeneous alignment of n along a symmetry breaking direction. Α 0 and β are positive material constants and we consider the case of 2nd order bulk nematic-SmA phase transition at T=Tc. Below Tc the condensation term imposes the bulk equilibrium value of the translational order parameter α 0 ( Tc − T ). SmA phase [15], corresponding roughly to materials characterized by κ < 1 / 2 and κ > 1 / 2 , respectively In the latter case dislocations are relatively more introduced into SmA patterns if a smectic layer frustration is enforced
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