Liquid-crystalline half-Skyrmion lattice spotted by Kossel diagrams

Skyrmions are swirl-like topological entities that have been shown to emerge in various condensed matter systems. Their identification has been carried out in different ways including scattering techniques and real-space observations. Here we show that Kossel diagrams can identify the formation of a hexagonal lattice of half-Skyrmions in a thin film of a chiral liquid crystal, in which case Kossel lines appear as hexagonally arranged circular arcs. Our experimental observations on a hexagonal lattice of half-Skyrmions and other defect structures resembling that of a bulk cholesteric blue phase are perfectly accounted for by numerical calculations and a theoretical argument attributing strong reflections yielding Kossel lines to guided mode resonances in the thin liquid crystal film. Our study demonstrates that a liquid crystal is a model system allowing the investigation of topological entities by various optical means, and also that Kossel techniques are applicable to the investigation of thin systems with non-trivial photonic band structures including topologically protected optical surface states.