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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Forming, Confining, and Observing Microtubule-Based Active Nematics
Published on: January 13, 2023
Structure studies of the nematic phase formed by bent-core molecules
N Vaupotic1, J Szydlowska, M Salamonczyk
1Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroska 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Abstract:
In recent years there are several reports showing that bent-core mesogenic molecules are able to form biaxial nematic phase in which molecular rotation around the long molecular axis is strongly hindered. The x-ray pattern with azimuthally split signals at low angle region of diffraction is usually given as evidence for the biaxial nematic phase. We show experimentally and theoretically that such x-ray pattern is due to the local smectic- C fluctuations ("cybotactic" groups) in the uniaxial nematic phase.
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