title: Connecting and disconnecting nematic disclination lines in microfluidic channels.
abstract: Disclination lines in nematic liquid crystals can be used as "soft rails" for the transport of colloids or droplets through microfluidic channels [A. Sengupta, C. Bahr and S. Herminghaus, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 7251]. In the present study we report on a method to connect and disconnect disclination lines in microfluidic channels using the interplay between anchoring, flow, and electric field. We show that the application of an electric field establishes a continuous disclination that spans across a channel region in which a disclination usually would not exist (because of different anchoring conditions), demonstrating an interruptible and reconnectable soft rail for colloidal transport.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS), Am Fassberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. christian.bahr@ds.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Hakam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Agha
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bahr