文章基本信息

标题：Coulomb-like elastic interaction induced by symmetry breaking in nematic liquid crystal colloids
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作者：Beom-Kyu Lee ; Sung-Jo Kim ; Jong-Hyun Kim 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2017
卷号：7
期号：1
页码：15916
DOI：10.1038/s41598-017-16200-z
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：It is generally thought that colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal do not generate the first multipole term called deformation elastic charge as it violates the mechanical equilibrium. Here, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that this is not the case, and deformation elastic charges, as well as dipoles and quadrupoles, can be induced through anisotropic boundary conditions. We report the first direct observation of Coulomb-like elastic interactions between colloidal particles in a nematic liquid crystal. The behaviour of two spherical colloidal particles with asymmetric anchoring conditions induced by asymmetric alignment is investigated experimentally; the interaction of two particles located at the boundary of twist and parallel aligned regions is observed. We demonstrate that such particles produce deformation elastic charges and interact by Coulomb-like interactions.