Chiral symmetry breaking in bent-core liquid crystals

By molecular modeling we demonstrate that the nematic long-range order discovered in bent-core liquid-crystal systems should reveal further spatially homogeneous phases. Two of them are identified as a tetrahedratic nematic (N_{T}) phase with D_{2d} symmetry and a chiral tetrahedratic nematic (N_{T}...

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Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2009-04, Vol.79 (4 Pt 1), p.040701-040701, Article 040701
Main Authors: Longa, Lech, Pajak, Grzegorz, Wydro, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:By molecular modeling we demonstrate that the nematic long-range order discovered in bent-core liquid-crystal systems should reveal further spatially homogeneous phases. Two of them are identified as a tetrahedratic nematic (N_{T}) phase with D_{2d} symmetry and a chiral tetrahedratic nematic (N_{T};{ *}) phase with D2 symmetry. These phases were found for a lattice model with quadrupolar and octupolar anisotropic interactions using mean-field theory and Monte Carlo simulations. The phase diagrams exhibit tetrahedratic (T) , N_{T} , and N_{T};{ *} phases, in addition to ordinary isotropic (I) , uniaxial nematic (N_{U}) , and biaxial nematic (N_{B}) phases.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.79.040701