TITLE:
Defect Core Structures in Twisted Nematic and Twisted Chiral Liquid Crystals
AUTHORS:
Xuan Zhou, Guili Zheng, Zhidong Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Disclinations; Eigenvalue Exchange; Defect Core; Landau-de Gennes Theory
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Modern Physics,
Vol.4 No.2,
February
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: The defect structures of s = ±1/2 twist disclinations in twisted nematic and twisted chiral liquid crystals have been investigated within the Landau-de Gennes theory numerically. Our results show that there exists eigenvalue exchange across the defect core of both the two models. The defect core is essentially biaxial and never isotropic. The defect centre is uniaxial and is surrounded by a strong biaxial region.