Smectic C chevrons in nanocylinders

Ronan Lefort (1) , Fabien Jean (2) , Laurence Noirez (3) , Makha Ndao (4) , Carole Cerclier (5) , Denis Morineau (1)

1 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes
2 NEEL - Quan2m - Interactions modulables dans des états quantiques 2D
3 LLB - UMR 12 - Laboratoire Léon Brillouin
4 ICCF - Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand
5 IMN - Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel

The structure of an achiral smectic-C liquid crystal confined in nanocylinders with a planar surface anchoring is studied by small angle neutron scattering. We observe an invariant alignment of the nematic director with the pore axis, that promotes an original chevron structure with revolution symmetry.

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Physique [physics]

Ronan Lefort, Fabien Jean, Laurence Noirez, Makha Ndao, Carole Cerclier, et al.. Smectic C chevrons in nanocylinders. Applied Physics Letters, 2014, 105 (20), pp.203106. ⟨10.1063/1.4902354⟩. ⟨hal-01086741⟩