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Formation and distribution of point defects on a disclination line near a free nematic interface

2001; American Physical Society; Volume: 63; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1103/physreve.63.031701

1538-4519

Jordi Ignés‐Mullol, Jean Baudry, Patrick Oswald,

Surfactants and Colloidal Systems

Point defects of opposite signs can alternately nucleate on the -1/2 disclination line that forms near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal. We show the existence of metastable configurations consisting of periodic repetitions of such defects. These configurations are characterized by a minimal interdefect spacing that is seen to depend on sample thickness and on an applied electric field. The time evolution of the defect distribution suggests that the defects attract at small distances and repel at large distances.