Chiral symmetry breaking in crystals of achiral polymers

Many achiral polymers crystallize into spherulites with gigantic chirality, as is evident from spectacular images of periodic banding observed in a polarized optical microscope, arising from the twisting of the lamellae making up the spherulites. We present a new mechanism of the spontaneous chiral...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2010-09, Vol.105 (10), p.107801-107801, Article 107801
Main Authors: Hatwalne, Yashodhan, Muthukumar, M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Many achiral polymers crystallize into spherulites with gigantic chirality, as is evident from spectacular images of periodic banding observed in a polarized optical microscope, arising from the twisting of the lamellae making up the spherulites. We present a new mechanism of the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, by accounting for topological defects in finite crystalline ribbons made of achiral molecules in equilibrium. We show that disclinations stabilize a twisted helicoidal ribbon, with spontaneous selection of its width and chiral period, which are proportional to each other, as a universal law.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.107801