Smectic Phases with Cubic Symmetry: The Splay Analog of the Blue Phase

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new class of smectic blue phases with cubic symmetry, combining minimal surface patches and cylindrical tubes, stabilized by saddle-splay energy for specific material parameters.

Contribution

It presents a novel construction for smectic blue phases with cubic symmetry, integrating minimal surfaces and cylindrical tubes, and analyzes their stability via saddle-splay energy.

Findings

Structures exhibit quasi-long range smectic order and long range cubic or hexagonal order.

Saddle-splay energy can stabilize these phases against uniform layered structures.

Material parameters determine the stability of the proposed smectic blue phases.

Abstract

We report on a construction for smectic blue phases, which have quasi-long range smectic translational order as well as long range cubic or hexagonal order. Our proposed structures fill space with a combination of minimal surface patches and cylindrical tubes. We find that for the right range of material parameters, the favorable saddle-splay energy of these structures can stabilize them against uniform layered structures.