Colloidal structures and interactions in a nematic liquid crystal

Miha Skarabot; Miha Ravnik; Uros Tkalec; Matjaz Humar; Slobodan Zumer; Andriy Nych; Ulyana Ognysta; Vassili Nazarenko; Igor Musevic

doi:10.1117/12.827981

20 August 2009 Colloidal structures and interactions in a nematic liquid crystal

Miha Skarabot, Miha Ravnik, Uros Tkalec, Matjaz Humar, Slobodan Zumer, Andriy Nych, Ulyana Ognysta, Vassili Nazarenko, Igor Musevic

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7414, Liquid Crystals XIII; 74140M (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.827981
Event: SPIE Photonic Devices + Applications, 2009, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The interactions between different types of colloidal particles are measured and analyzed. We use these interactions to build different self-assembled microstructures, such as dimers, chains, wires, crystals and superstructures. In the experiments we have used different size, different symmetry of colloids (elastic dipoles and quadrupoles) and different way of colloidal binding (via localized defects and via entangled defects). We use optical tweezers for directed selfassembly of colloidal particles. Special attention is devoted to the hierarchical superstructures of large and small particles. We show that smaller, submicron colloidal particles are trapped into the topological defect rings or loops, twisting around larger colloidal particles, which are sources of strong nematic deformations. Various possible applications are discussed, especially in photonics and metamaterials.

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Miha Skarabot, Miha Ravnik, Uros Tkalec, Matjaz Humar, Slobodan Zumer, Andriy Nych, Ulyana Ognysta, Vassili Nazarenko, and Igor Musevic "Colloidal structures and interactions in a nematic liquid crystal", Proc. SPIE 7414, Liquid Crystals XIII, 74140M (20 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.827981

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