Observation of stable phase jump lines in convection of a twisted nematic liquid crystal
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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Soichi Tatsumi1, Masaki Sano, A G Rossberg
1Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. tatsumi@daisy.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
We report observations of stable, localized, linelike structures in the spatially periodic pattern formed by nematic electroconvection, along which the phase of the pattern jumps by pi. With increasing electric voltage, these lines form a gridlike structure that goes over into a structure indistinguishable from the well-known grid pattern. We present theoretical arguments that suggest that the twisted cell geometry we are using is indirectly stabilizing the phase jump lines, and that the phase jump lines lattice is caused by an interaction of phase jump lines and a zig-zag instability of the surrounding pattern.
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