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Electrically driven three-dimensional solitary waves as director bullets in nematic liquid crystals.

ABSTRACT: Electric field-induced collective reorientation of nematic molecules is of importance for fundamental science and practical applications. This reorientation is either homogeneous over the area of electrodes, as in displays, or periodically modulated, as in electroconvection. The question is whether spatially localized three-dimensional solitary waves of molecular reorientation could be created. Here we demonstrate that the electric field can produce particle-like propagating solitary waves representing self-trapped "bullets" of oscillating molecular director. These director bullets lack fore-aft symmetry and move with very high speed perpendicularly to the electric field and to the initial alignment direction. The bullets are true solitons that preserve spatially confined shapes and survive collisions. The solitons are topologically equivalent to the uniform state and have no static analogs, thus exhibiting a particle-wave duality. Their shape, speed, and interactions depend strongly on the material parameters, which opens the door for a broad range of future studies.

SUBMITTER: Li BX

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6060142 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Electrically driven three-dimensional solitary waves as director bullets in nematic liquid crystals.

Li Bing-Xiang BX Borshch Volodymyr V Xiao Rui-Lin RL Paladugu Sathyanarayana S Turiv Taras T Shiyanovskii Sergij V SV Lavrentovich Oleg D OD

Nature communications 20180725 1

Electric field-induced collective reorientation of nematic molecules is of importance for fundamental science and practical applications. This reorientation is either homogeneous over the area of electrodes, as in displays, or periodically modulated, as in electroconvection. The question is whether spatially localized three-dimensional solitary waves of molecular reorientation could be created. Here we demonstrate that the electric field can produce particle-like propagating solitary waves repre ...[more]

PMID: 30046035

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Project description:We report an investigation of the self-assembly of the monosialoganglioside (GM(1)) at interfaces formed between aqueous solutions of 10 microM GM(1) (at 25 degrees C) and micrometer-thick films of the nematic liquid crystal (LC) 4'-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB). We observe the process of spontaneous transfer of GM(1) onto the interfaces to be accompanied by continuous ordering transitions within the micrometer-thick films of the LC. At saturation coverage, the GM(1) orders the LC in an orientation that is perpendicular to the interface, an orientation that is similar to that caused by phospholipids such as dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC). This result suggests an interaction between the LC and GM(1) that is dominated by the hydrophobic tails of the GM(1). Relative to DLPC, however, we observe the dynamics of the LC ordering transition driven by GM(1) to be slow (2 h for DLPC versus 100 h for GM(1)). To provide insight into the origins of the slow dynamics of the GM(1)-induced ordering transition in the LC, we performed two additional measurements. First, we quantified the time-dependent adsorption of GM(1) at the LC interface by using fluorescently-labeled GM(1). Second, we used the Langmuir-Schaefer method to transfer preorganized monolayers of GM(1) from an air-water interface to the aqueous-LC interface. Results obtained from these two experiments are consistent with a physical picture in which the final stages of spontaneous adsorption/ordering of GM(1) at the aqueous-LC interface dictate the dynamics of the LC ordering transition. This rate limiting process underlying the ordering transition was substantially accelerated by heating the system above the phase transition temperature of GM(1)(26 degrees C), suggesting that the phase state of the GM(1) micellar aggregates in bulk solution strongly influences the kinetics of the final stages of ordering/adsorption of GM(1) at the LC interface. Overall, these results and others presented in this manuscript reveal that it is possible to decorate interfaces of a nematic LC with GM(1), and that the assembly of GM(1) at these interfaces impacts the dynamic and equilibrium ordering of the LC.

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Electrically driven three-dimensional solitary waves as director bullets in nematic liquid crystals.

Publications

Electrically driven three-dimensional solitary waves as director bullets in nematic liquid crystals.

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