Two-Dimensional Skyrmion Lattice Formation in a Nematic Liquid Crystal Consisting of Highly Bent Banana Molecules

We synthesized a novel banana-shaped molecule based on a 1,7-naphthalene central core that exhibits a distinct mesomorphism of the nematic-to-nematic phase transition. Both the X-ray profile and direct imaging of atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations clearly indicates the formation of an anomalous nematic phase possessing a two-dimensional (2D) tetragonal lattice with a large edge (ca. 59 angstrom) directed perpendicular to the director in the low-temperature nematic phase. One plausible model is proposed by an analogy of skyrmion lattice in which two types of cylinders formed from left- and right-handed twist-bend helices stack into a 2D tetragonal lattice, diminishing the inversion domain wall.