Principles of thermal design with nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

Highly engineered materials are arousing great interest because of their ability to manipulate heat, as described by coordinate transformation approach. Based on the recently developed analog gravity models, this paper presents how a simple device based on nematic liquid crystal can achieve in principle either thermal concentration or expulsion. These outcomings are shown to stem from topological properties of a disclination-like structure, induced in the nematic by anchoring conditions.