The Entangled Structure of Elastic Dipoles and a Twist Disclination Line in a Nematic Phase

Abstract

The studies concerning 1/2 disclinations started with a focus on the fact that the interactions between the disclination and the microparticle accompanied by topological defects can be explained in a similar manner with electrostatic interactions. Therefore, the interactions in the elastic field have been revealed but the details concerning how the microparticles are entangled with the disclination lines have not been studied. However, because the applications of the entangled structures and the disclination itself are growing in periodic assembling and manipulation of micro- and nanoparticles, further detailed study is necessary. Thus, the detailed entangled structure of the twist disclination line and elastic dipoles is discussed in this work and we were able to conclude that the disclination line through the middle of the bead in the entangled structure acts as a −1/2 disclination line and the hedgehog point defect around the bead disappears because of the change of the director field configuration. In addition, zigzag entangled structures are created in order to lower the elastic energy due to the bend deformation. Based on these results, we will be able to discuss the entangled structure of ±1/2 disclination lines and elastic dipoles.