Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation

A state of matter in which molecules show a long-range orientational order and no positional order is called a nematic liquid crystal. The best known and most widely used (for example, in modern displays) is the uniaxial nematic, with the rod-like molecules aligned along a single axis, called the director. When the molecules are chiral, the director twists in space, drawing a right-angle helicoid and remaining perpendicular to the helix axis; the structure is called a chiral nematic. Here using transmission electron and optical microscopy, we experimentally demonstrate a new nematic order, formed by achiral molecules, in which the director follows an oblique helicoid, maintaining a constant oblique angle with…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 1121288, 1104850
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: DE-FG02-06ER 46331, DE-FG02-, DE-FG02
• KS
  Kent State University
• IN
  Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
• SF
  Science Foundation Ireland
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• DO
  Division of Materials Research

  Award: 1121288
• DO
  Division of Mathematical Sciences