1. Twist-bend nematic liquid crystals in high magnetic fields.
- Author
-
Challa PK, Borshch V, Parri O, Imrie CT, Sprunt SN, Gleeson JT, Lavrentovich OD, and Jákli A
- Subjects
- Molecular Structure, Transition Temperature, Liquid Crystals chemistry, Magnetic Fields, Models, Chemical
- Abstract
We present magneto-optic measurements on two materials that form the recently discovered twist-bend nematic (N_{tb}) phase. This intriguing state of matter represents a fluid phase that is orientationally anisotropic in three directions and also exhibits translational order with periodicity several times larger than the molecular size. N_{tb} materials may also spontaneously form a visible, macroscopic stripe texture. We show that the optical stripe texture can be persistently inhibited by a magnetic field, and a 25T external magnetic field depresses the N-N_{tb} phase transition temperature by almost 1{∘}C. We propose a quantitative mechanism to account for this shift and suggest a Helfrich-Hurault-type mechanism for the optical stripe formation.
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF