AI Article Synopsis
- Researchers created "necklaces" of topological defects by manipulating opposite charges in nematic films and studied their movement and changes.
- The formation of these defects was influenced by temperature and competing surface anchoring at different interfaces, which altered the Euler characteristic of the system.
- As the geometry of the nematic changed, the arrangement of defects shifted from circular chains to single defects and eventually to a defect-free state, with distinct behavior observed in their evolution compared to traditional coarsening in 2D and 3D systems.
Article Abstract
Ordered chain structures from topological defects of opposite charges ("necklaces" of defects) were prepared and their dynamics and cooperative rearrangement were investigated. We studied topological defects in nematic films with change of the Euler characteristic induced by temperature. Topological defects emerged due to competing surface anchoring on the nematic-isotropic and nematic-solid interfaces. Transformation of the structure with a circular chain from topological defects to the structure with a single defect and then to a structure without defects takes place as the nematic geometry changes. The temporal evolution of the number of topological defects at their annihilation in the chains differs from coarsening in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D geometry.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.110.024703 | DOI Listing |
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