Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 8, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00548-x
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Disclinations are topological singularities of molecular arrangement in liquid crystals, which typically occur when the average orientation of molecules makes a pi rotation along a fictitious closed loop taken inside the liquid crystal. Depending on the sense of molecular rotation, the disclination lines are either of 1/2 or -1/2 strength. When two disclination lines with the opposite strength meet, they are annihilated without trace. It is hence generally considered difficult in the nematic phase to stabilize a condensed array of free-standing disclination lines without the aid of topological objects like colloidal inclusions. Here we show that a freestanding web of 1/2-strength twist disclination lines can be stably formed in thin liquid crystal cells by means of a judicious combination of orientationally patterned confining surfaces fabricated by the micropatterned photoalignment technique. Theoretical model indicates that disclination lines are held apart at the intersection by a repulsive force generated by the Frank elasticity.
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