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Published on: May 29, 2018
Confined labyrinthine pattern in chiral liquid crystal droplets.
M Rubio-Saldías1, V Fernandez-Gonzalez1, M G Clerc1
1Departamento de Física and Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile. martin.rubio.s@ug.uchile.cl.
Soft Matter
|May 14, 2026
Summary
Complex patterns form in energy-driven systems. This study explores labyrinthine patterns in chiral liquid crystal droplets, using theory and simulations to understand confined textures.
Area of Science:
- Soft Matter Physics
- Complex Systems
- Materials Science
Background:
- Energy-injecting and dissipating systems exhibit self-organization into complex spatial patterns.
- Labyrinthine patterns display local order but lack global order.
- Chiral liquid crystals are known for forming intricate textures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the formation of confined textures in temperature-driven chiral liquid crystal droplets.
- To theoretically describe the observed labyrinthine patterns near the winding/unwinding transition.
- To understand the influence of droplet geometry on texture formation.
Main Methods:
- Experimental observation of texture formation in chiral liquid crystal droplets under controlled temperature changes.
- Theoretical analysis using an amplitude equation with inhomogeneous coefficients to model confined systems.
- Numerical simulations of the derived amplitude equation.
Main Results:
- Observed textures were predominantly labyrinthine patterns.
- The theoretical model, incorporating confinement effects, showed qualitative agreement with experimental findings.
- The winding/unwinding transition region provided a simplified description for texture formation.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully characterized labyrinthine pattern formation in confined chiral liquid crystal droplets.
- A theoretical framework was established to describe these patterns, considering geometric confinement.
- The findings provide new insights into confined textures across diverse geometric setups.
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