# Helicoids in chiral liquid crystals under external fields

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how cholesteric liquid crystals form various helicoidal structures under external magnetic fields and confinement, providing a phase diagram of transitions from nematic to helicoidal phases.

## Contribution

It offers new analytical and numerical insights into the phase transitions and configurations of cholesteric liquid crystals under external fields and confinement.

## Key findings

- Phase diagram of nematic to helicoidal transitions
- Characterization of helicoidal configurations with disclinations
- Analytical and numerical methods applied

## Abstract

Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (CLCs), subject to externally applied magnetic fields and confined between two parallel planar surfaces with strong homeotropic anchoring conditions, are found to undergo transitions to different types of helicoidal configurations with disclinations. Analytical and numerical studies are performed in order to characterise their properties. In particular, we produce a phase diagram for the transitions from the nematic state to the helicoidal phases in terms of the molecular chirality and the strength of the applied magnetic field.