Issue 22, 2020

Dynamic dissipative solitons in nematics with positive anisotropies

Abstract

Electric field induced instabilities of nematic molecules are of importance for both fundamental science and practical applications. Complex electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) effects such as electro-convection, fingerprint textures, spatiotemporal chaos, and solitons in nematics have been broadly investigated and generated much attention. In this work, dissipative solitons as a novel EHD phenomenon are realized in nematics with positive anisotropies, presumably for the first time. Unlike the ones reported recently in nematics with negative anisotropies whose formation and dynamics are mainly attributed to the flexoelectric and electro-convection effects, the solitons discussed here arise from the nonlinear coupling between the director field and the isotropic flow induced by ion motion. The structure and dynamics of the solitons are demonstrated and the influences of chirality, azimuthal anchoring and ion concentration are also investigated. Finally, we show that the propagation trajectory of solitons can be manipulated by patterned photoalignment and micro-particles can be trapped by them as vehicles for micro-cargo transport.

Graphical abstract: Dynamic dissipative solitons in nematics with positive anisotropies

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Apr 2020
Accepted
22 May 2020
First published
25 May 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 5325-5333

Dynamic dissipative solitons in nematics with positive anisotropies

Y. Shen and I. Dierking, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 5325 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM00676A

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