title: Creation and manipulation of topological states in chiral nematic microspheres.
abstract: Topology is a universal concept that is encountered in daily life and is known to determine many static and dynamical properties of matter. Taming and controlling the topology of materials therefore constitutes a contemporary interdisciplinary challenge. Building on the controllable spatial properties of soft matter appears as a relevant strategy to address the challenge, in particular, because it may lead to paradigmatic model systems that allow checking theories experimentally. Here we report experimentally on a wealth of complex free-standing metastable topological architectures at the micron scale, in frustrated chiral nematic droplets. These results support recent works predicting the formation of free-standing knotted and linked disclination structures in confined chiral nematic fluids. We also demonstrate that various kinds of external fields (thermal, electrical and optical) can be used to achieve topological remote control. All this may foster the development of new devices based on topologically structured soft media.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, 351 cours de la Libération, Talence F-33400, France.
authors.forename: Tetiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Orlova
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, PO Box 207, Enschede 7500AE, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sarah Jane
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Aßhoff
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, PO Box 207, Enschede 7500AE, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tadatsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biomolecular Nanotechnology, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, PO Box 207, Enschede 7500AE, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katsonis
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, 351 cours de la Libération, Talence F-33400, France.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brasselet