title: Bend-induced melting of the smectic-A phase: analogy to a type-I superconductor.
abstract: Using an atomic force microscope to nanopattern a substrate for liquid crystal alignment, a bend distortion is imposed on a liquid crystal. In regions of large bend the smectic-A phase melts into the nematic phase, and the width of the melted region is measured as a function of temperature. The results are consistent with type-I superconducting (nematic-smectic-A) behavior, wherein a large magnetic field (bend or twist distortion) induces an order to disorder transition. A model that accounts for non-mean-field behavior is presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7079, USA.
authors.forename: Ruiting
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ishtiaque M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: Rolfe G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Petschek
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt