Nematic liquid crystal bridges

ORAL

Abstract

We study the effects of confining a nematic liquid crystal between two parallel glass plates with homeotropic boundary conditions for the director at all bounding surfaces. We find that the free surface of the nematic bridge is a surface of constant mean curvature. In addition, by changing the distance between the plates and the contact angle with the glass plates, we transition between loops and hedgehogs that can be either radial or hyperbolic.

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Authors

  • Susannah Doss

    Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Perry Ellis

    Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Jayalakshmi Vallamkondu

    National Institute of Technology, Warangal (India)

  • Edward Danemiller

    Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Mark Vernon

    Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Alberto Fernandez-Nieves

    Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Inst of Tech, Physics. Georgia Tech