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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Travelling waves in two-dimensional smectic-C domains
J Claret1, J Crusats, R Albalat
1Departament de Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franqués 1, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Abstract:
Continued irradiation of smectic-C-like domains of photosensitive Langmuir monolayers from azobenzene derivatives induces the nucleation and propagation of orientational travelling waves as observed with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). BAM image analysis has allowed to identify different dynamical behaviors involving the generation and propagation of such waves. A model based on the coupling between an orientational and a composition field proposes a scenario for dynamic self-assembly that accounts for most of the observed phenomena, and allows to pinpoint the relevance of boundary defects in wave-emitting structures.-1.
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