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A Twist‐Bend Nematic (NTB) Phase of Chiral Materials |
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| Authors: | Prof. Ewa Gorecka Prof. Nataša Vaupotič Anna Zep Dr. Damian Pociecha Dr. Jun Yoshioka Prof. Jun Yamamoto Prof. Hideo Takezoe |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University ul. Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02‐089 Warsaw (Poland);2. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koro?ka 160, Maribor (Slovenia);3. Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia);4. Department of Physics and Applied Physics, Waseda University, 3‐4‐1 Okubo, Shinjuku‐ku, Tokyo169‐8555 (Japan);5. Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawaoiwake‐cho, Sakyo‐ku, Kyoto, 606‐8502 (Japan);6. Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, 41‐1, Yokomichi, Nagakute, Aichi 480‐1192 (Japan) |
| Abstract: | New chiral dimers consisting of a rod‐like and cholesterol mesogenic units are reported to form a chiral twist‐bend nematic phase (NTB*) with heliconical structure. The compressibility of the NTB phase made of bent dimers was found to be as large as in smectic phases, which is consistent with the nanoperiodic structure of the NTB phase. The atomic force microscopy observations in chiral bent dimers revealed a periodicity of about 50 nm, which is significantly larger than the one reported previously for non‐chiral compounds (ca. 10 nm). |
| Keywords: | atomic force microscopy chirality liquid crystals spontaneous symmetry breaking X‐ray diffraction |