Point-defect haloing in curved nematic films

TL;DR

This paper studies how surface curvature influences defect distribution in nematic liquid crystal membranes, revealing that Gaussian bump curvature causes defect halos due to energy and configuration interactions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the direct impact of Gaussian curvature on disclination energies and their spatial distribution in curved nematic films, introducing the concept of defect halo formation.

Findings

Disclinations are attracted to an annulus region around the bump's top.

Gaussian curvature induces a halo distribution of defects.

Curvature modulates the preferred configurations of liquid crystal molecules.

Abstract

We investigate the correlation between the point disclination energies and the surface curvature modulation of nematic liquid crystal membranes with a Gaussian bump geometry. Due to the correlation, disclinations feel an attractive force that confines them to an annulus region, resulting in a halo distribution around the top of the bump. The halo formation is a direct consequence of the nonzero Gaussian curvature of the bump that affects preferable configurations of liquid crystal molecules around the disclination core.