On the origin and structure of liquid crystalline Blue Phase III

Abstract

The origin and structure of self assembled chiral liquid crystalline Blue Phase III (BPIII) have remained an enigma despite efforts spreading over decades. We report here an off-lattice NVT molecular dynamics simulation study of a system of polar chiral ellipsoidal molecules, which spontaneously exhibits BPIII , considering coarse-grained attractive-repulsive pair interaction appropriate for anisotropic liquid crystal mesogens. We have observed that suitable selection of chiral and dipolar strengths not only gives rise to thermodynamically stable BPIII but novel Smectic and Bilayered BPIII as well. Further, we have demonstrated that occurence of BPIII and its layered counterparts depend crucially on molecular elongation.