Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/4646

 Title: Enhanced Elasticity and Soft Glassy Rheology of a Smectic in a Random Porous Environment Authors: Bandyopadhyay, RanjiniLiang, DennisColby, Ralph H.Harden, James L.Leheny, Robert L. Issue Date: 2005 Publisher: American Physical Society Citation: Physical Review Letters, 2005, Vol.94, p107801 Abstract: We report studies of the frequency dependent shear modulus, $G^*(\omega)=G'(\omega)+iG''(\omega)$, of the liquid crystal octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) confined in a colloidal aerosil gel. With the onset of smectic order, $G'$ grows approximately linearly with decreasing temperature, reaching values that exceed by more than three orders of magnitude the values for pure 8CB. The modulus at low temperatures possesses a power-law component, $G^*(\omega) \sim \omega^\alpha$, with exponent $\alpha$ that approaches zero with increasing gel density. The amplitude of $G'$ and its variation with temperature and gel density indicate that the low temperature response is dominated by a dense population of defects in the smectic. In contrast, when the 8CB is isotropic or nematic, the modulus is controlled by the elastic behavior of the colloidal gel. Description: Open Access. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/4646 ISSN: 0031-90071079-7114 (Online) Alternative Location: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502454http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.107801 Copyright: 2005 American Physical Society Appears in Collections: Research Papers (SCM)

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