Journal
LIQUID CRYSTALS
Volume 40, Issue 3, Pages 345-353Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02678292.2012.747736
Keywords
birefringence; columnar liquid crystals; filaments; phase transition; pinch-off dynamics; star-shaped oligobenzoates
Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [STA425/28-1, ER467/2-2]
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We investigate the stability and structure of freely suspended filaments of columnar liquid crystal phases. In the hexagonal columnar phase, filaments with aspect ratios of the order of 20:1 and more can be formed. They can be cooled into a low-temperature body-centred orthorhombic columnar phase without breaking. The slow optic axis is perpendicular to the filament axis and the materials are negatively birefringent in the high-temperature phase. At the transition into the low-temperature phase, the sign of the birefringence is inverted. Within the lifetime of the filaments, three regimes can be distinguished. First, the filaments thin exponentially over a period of about 2 hours. Thereby, the axial alignment improves and the filaments adopt a cylindrical geometry. These cylindrical filaments can persist quasi-stationary for several hours. Fluctuations finally lead to slight inhomogeneities in the filament diameter. This causes Laplace pressure gradients and induces an axial redistribution of material, and the filaments unavoidably rupture within about half an hour.
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