Journal
CRYSTALS
Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/cryst11040430
Keywords
topological defect annihilation; freely suspended smectic films; backflow; fluorescence bleaching
Funding
- German Science Foundation [STA 425/44-1, INST 272/260-1, ER 467/14-1]
- PHD grant of the Centre National d'Etude Spatiale (CNES)
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This study experimentally confirmed the theoretical prediction using fluorescence labeling, showing that defects with different strengths in freely suspended films in the smectic C phase move at different speeds during annihilation.
Freely suspended films in the smectic C phase are excellent templates for the study of topological defect dynamics. It is well known that, during the annihilation of a pair of disclinations with strengths +/-1, the +1 defect moves faster because it is carried towards its opponent by backflow, whereas the flow in the vicinity of the -1 defect is negligibly small. This backflow pattern is created by the defect motion itself. An experimental confirmation of this theoretical prediction and its quantitative characterization is achieved here by fluorescence labeling. Film regions near the defect positions are labeled and their displacements are tracked optically.
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