Order Reconstruction Research Articles

Coupling phenomenon of anti-connected hybrid alignment nematics in thin cell: From submicron to nanoscale

Within Landau–de Gennes theory, we modeled a system consisting of two anti-connected hybrid alignment nematics (HAN). Our numerical simulation results indicated the occurrence of four states denoted as I, II, III and IV. The states undergo a structure transition as a function of the cell gap d. For d [Formula: see text] d0, where d0is the maximum value for the structure transition to occur, state I and II are bistable, whereas state III and IV are metastable and quadruply degenerate. We found that d0= 15[Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the biaxial characteristic coherence length. When d[Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] d [Formula: see text] d0, where d[Formula: see text] = 7[Formula: see text] and d[Formula: see text] is the critical cell gap for order reconstruction (OR), continuous inversion walls appear both in state III and IV. We first found that the structure transition from inversion walls to defect walls occurs with decreasing d from the submicron to nanoscale. During this process, quadruply degenerate states in state III and IV transformed into doubly degenerate states. Meanwhile, states I and II remained bistable. When d = d[Formula: see text], all states reached a new type of OR pattern with two biaxial walls cross-linked with each other by a novel approach; i.e., from defect walls to OR.

Order reconstruction phenomena and temperature-driven dynamics in a 3D zenithally bistable device

We model the zenithally bistable device (ZBD) in three dimensions (3D), within the Landau-de Gennes theory, and find three stable static states in 3D without an applied field: the vertically aligned nematic (VAN) state, the hybrid aligned nematic (HAN) state and a third, high-tilt state, which we call the THAN state, with an interior and a surface defect. We recover the order reconstruction (OR) phenomenon around the defects in the HAN and THAN states and the 3D THAN and HAN solutions exhibit stable biaxial cylinders connecting defects on opposite faces of the ZBD device. We demonstrate a two-way temperature-driven switching between high-tilt and low-tilt states through controlled heating and cooling procedures in two dimensions (2D), with no applied fields.

Finite-size effects on order reconstruction around nematic defects

By use of the Landau-de Gennes phenomenological theory, we study the texture of a nematic liquid crystal confined within a hybrid cell. Precisely, we consider cylindrically symmetric solutions containing topological defects dictated by appropriate boundary conditions. We focus our attention on cells whose dimensions are comparable with the biaxial correlation length xi(b) . For such severe confinements the order reconstruction (OR) configuration could be stable. Its structural details reflect the balance among boundary-enforced frustration, elastic penalties, and finite-size effects. In particular, we analyze the interplay between finite-size effects and topological defects. We show that defects are always pinned to the negatively (planar) uniaxial sheet of the OR structure. The presence of a ring defect can dramatically increase the critical threshold below which the OR structure is stable.

Examining the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall: The effects of list length and output order.

In 4 experiments, participants were presented with lists of between 1 and 15 words for tests of immediate memory. For all tasks, participants tended to initiate recall with the first word on the list for short lists. As the list length was increased, so there was a decreased tendency to start with the first list item; and, when free to do so, participants showed an increased tendency to start with one of the last 4 list items. In all tasks, the start position strongly influenced the shape of the resultant serial position curves: When recall started at Serial Position 1, elevated recall of early list items was observed; when recall started toward the end of the list, there were extended recency effects. These results occurred under immediate free recall (IFR) and different variants of immediate serial recall (ISR) and reconstruction of order (RoO) tasks. We argue that these findings have implications for the relationship between IFR and ISR and between rehearsal and recall.