title: Finite particle size drives defect-mediated domain structures in strongly confined colloidal liquid crystals.
abstract: When liquid crystals are confined to finite volumes, the competition between the surface anchoring imposed by the boundaries and the intrinsic orientational symmetry-breaking of these materials gives rise to a host of intriguing phenomena involving topological defect structures. For synthetic molecular mesogens, like the ones used in liquid-crystal displays, these defect structures are independent of the size of the molecules and well described by continuum theories. In contrast, colloidal systems such as carbon nanotubes and biopolymers have micron-sized lengths, so continuum descriptions are expected to break down under strong confinement conditions. Here, we show, by a combination of computer simulations and experiments with virus particles in tailor-made disk- and annulus-shaped microchambers, that strong confinement of colloidal liquid crystals leads to novel defect-stabilized symmetrical domain structures. These finite-size effects point to a potential for designing optically active microstructures, exploiting the as yet unexplored regime of highly confined liquid crystals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ioana C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Gârlea
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dammone
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, UK.
authors.forename: Dirk G A L
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Aarts
authors.affiliation: Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: M Pavlik
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lettinga
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gijsje H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Koenderink
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bela M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Mulder