Abstract
We present magneto-optic measurements on two materials that form the recently discovered twist-bend nematic (N-tb) phase. This intriguing state of matter represents a fluid phase that is orientationally anisotropic in three directions and also exhibits translational order with periodicity several times larger than the molecular size. N-tb materials may also spontaneously form a visible, macroscopic stripe texture. We show that the optical stripe texture can be persistently inhibited by a magnetic field, and a 25T external magnetic field depresses the N-N-tb phase transition temperature by almost 1 degrees C. We propose a quantitative mechanism to account for this shift and suggest a Helfrich-Hurault-type mechanism for the optical stripe formation.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 060501 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear and Soft Matter Physics |
Volume | 89 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Jun 2014 |
Bibliographical note
This work was supported by the NSF under Grants No. DMR-0964765, No. DMR-1104805, No. DMR-1121288, and No. DMR-1307674, as well as DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-06ER 46331. Invaluable assistance was provided by W. Aldhizer and S. W. McGill. Work performed at NHMFL was supported by NSF cooperative agreement DMR-0084173, the State of Florida, and the U.S. Department of Energy.Keywords
- BANANA-SHAPED MOLECULES
- ORIENTATIONAL ORDER
- PHASE
- DIMERS
- INSTABILITY
- CHEVRON