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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Splay-bend textures involving tetrahedratic order
H Pleiner1, P E Cladis, H R Brand
1Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, PO Box 3148, 55021, Mainz, Germany. pleiner@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
Abstract:
We show that defect-free splay-bend textures are less energetic compared to uniform states in liquid-crystalline phases that possess both quadrupolar (nematic) and octupolar (tetrahedratic) order. This is because, in such systems, there is a symmetry-allowed linear gradient term in the energy. Another unusual feature of these splay-bend textures is the fact that they have a non-homogeneous, space-dependent free-energy density. These results may help clarify some mysterious features noted for the B7 liquid-crystal phase formed by achiral banana-shaped molecules.
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