1208.1141 (Venkatramanan P. R. et al.)

A novel modulated phase of liquid crystals: Covariant elasticity in the
context of soft, achiral smectic-C materials    [PDF]

Venkatramanan P. R., Yashodhan Hatwalne, N. V. Madhusudana

Ginzburg-Landau-de Gennes -type covariant theories are extensively used in connection with twist grain boundary (TGB) phases of chiral smectogens. We analyze the stability conditions for the linear, covariant elasticity theory of smectic-C liquid crystals in the context of achiral materials, and predict an equilibrium modulated structure with an oblique wavevector. We suggest that a previous experimental observation of stripes in smectic-C is consistent with the predicted structure.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.1141