Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Quasi-two-dimensional Skyrmion lattices in a chiral nematic liquid crystal
Jun-ichi Fukuda1, Slobodan Zumer
1Nanosystem Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan. fukuda.jun-ichi@aist.go.jp
Abstract:
Skyrmions are particle-like topological entities in a continuous field that have an important role in various condensed matter systems, including two-dimensional electron gases exhibiting the quantum Hall effect, chiral ferromagnets and Bose-Einstein condensates. Here we show theoretically, with the aid of numerical methods, that a highly chiral nematic liquid crystal can accommodate a quasi-two-dimensional Skyrmion lattice as a thermodynamically stable state, when it is confined to a thin film between two parallel surfaces imposing normal alignment. A chiral nematic liquid crystal film can thus serve as a model Skyrmion system, allowing direct investigation of their structural properties by a variety of optical techniques at room temperatures that are less demanding than Skyrmion systems discussed previously.
Related Concept Videos
Structures of Solids
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Symmetry Elements in a Crystal
The Seven Crystal Systems: Overview
Fluid Mosaic Model
Unit Cells

