title: ±1/2 wedge disclinations stabilized by a sinusoidal boundary in a thin hybrid nematic liquid-crystal film.
abstract: As an interesting example of how geometry affects the formation of defects, we study the defect structures of a hybrid nematic liquid-crystal film in a wedge-shaped cell made up of sinusoidal microwrinkles and an elastomer sheet. When the cell thickness is larger than a threshold value h(c), +1/2 and -1/2 disclinations are simultaneously stabilized along concave grooves and convex crests, respectively. A simple theoretical analysis gives a good estimate of h(c). The disclinations also show alternating optical rotations resulting from the curved boundary and liquid-crystal elastic anisotropy.
authors.affiliation: Nanosystem Research Institute (NRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan. ohzono-takuya@aist.go.jp
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohzono
authors.forename: Jun-ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi