Modulated nematic structures and chiral symmetry breaking in 2D

ABSTRACT

We have studied the properties of biaxial particles interacting via an anisotropic pair potential, involving second-rank quadrupolar and third-rank octupolar coupling terms, using Monte Carlo simulation. The particles occupy the sites of a 2D square lattice and the interactions are restricted to nearest neighbours. The system exhibits spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking from an isotropic phase to a chiral modulated nematic phase, composed of ambidextrous chiral domains. When twofold axes of quadrupolar and octupolar tensors coincide this modulated phase appears to be the ambidextrous cholesteric phase with pitch comparable to a few lattice spacings. The associated phase transition is first order.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Modulated liquid crystal structures
• chiral symmetry breaking
• Monte Carlo simulations
• twist-bend nematic
• cholesteric phase

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant No. DEC-2013/11/B/ST3/04247 of the National Science Centre in Poland. The authors would like to thank the Referee for valuable suggestions in improving the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Narodowe Centrum Nauki in Poland [Grant Number: DEC-2013/11/B/ST3/04247].