Microscale Structures Arising from Nanoscale Inhomogeneities in Nematics Made of Bent-Shaped Molecules

Abstract

Nano scale structures in fluid media normally require techniques such as freeze fracture electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy for their visualization. As demonstrated in the present study, the surface modification due to nano scale clusters occurring intrinsically in kinematic made of bent-shaped molecules with either rigid or flexible cores leads to micro scale structures, which are visible in an optical microscope. The underlying physical mechanism proposed here involves a quasi periodic change in anchoring conditions on untreated glass plates for the medium made of islands of clusters surrounded by uncluttered molecules. The resulting pattern of stripes outlines the director-normal field around line defects in the well-known Schliemann texture. The instability, which is seen over most of the kinematic range, with increasing visibility under continued cooling of the sample, sets the kinematic made of bent-shaped molecules apart from the classical kinematic of rod-shaped molecules.