title: Breaking the rules for topological defects: smectic order on conical substrates.
abstract: Ordered phases on curved substrates experience a complex interplay of ordering and intrinsic curvature, commonly producing frustration and singularities. This is an especially important issue in crystals as ever-smaller scale materials are grown on real surfaces; eventually, surface imperfections are on the same scale as the lattice constant. Here, we gain insights into this general problem by studying two-dimensional smectic order on substrates with highly localized intrinsic curvature, constructed from cones and their intersections with planes. In doing so we take advantage of fully tractable "paper and tape" constructions, allowing us to understand, in detail, the induced cusps and singularities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6396, USA.
authors.forename: Ricardo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mosna
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Beller
authors.forename: Randall D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kamien
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010316:Particle Size; D044367:Phase Transition; D013499:Surface Properties