Diverse Self-assembly Pathways in Nematic Compartment Network: Topological Percolation and Pathfinding.

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Materials Science
• Network Science

Background:

• Nematic molecule self-assembly in microcompartments typically yields predictable, single topological structures.
• Surface anchoring conditions usually dictate predictable molecular organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate molecular self-assembly in a confined nematic system with interconnected microcompartments.
• To explore the emergence of diverse topological structures and patterns due to intercellular communication.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an array of microcompartments linked by channels.
• Observation and analysis of nematic molecular self-assembly within this interconnected system.
• Modeling the domain structure using isotropically directed bond percolation.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated diverse molecular assembly pathways leading to four topological structures and twelve random patterns.
• Identified intercompartment communication via channels as critical for pattern diversity and domain formation.
• Characterized domain structures exhibiting pathfinding and reverse tree properties.

Conclusions:

• Interconnected microcompartments enable complex, multi-pattern nematic self-assembly, deviating from predictable single structures.
• The system serves as a model for controlled randomness and restricted network growth.
• Potential applications include anticounterfeit protection using physically unclonable functions (PUFs) with multi-level protocols.