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Colloidal particles at a nematic-isotropic interface: effects of confinement

J. L. West, K. Zhang, A. Glushchenko, D. Andrienko, M. Tasinkevych, Y. Reznikov

cond-mat.softarXiv:cond-mat/0606169

Abstract

When captured by a flat nematic-isotropic interface, colloidal particles can be dragged by it. As a result spatially periodic structures may appear, with the period depending on a particle mass, size, and interface velocity~west.jl:2002. If liquid crystal is sandwiched between two substrates, the interface takes a wedge-like shape, accommodating the interface-substrate contact angle and minimizing the director distortions on its nematic side. Correspondingly, particles move along complex trajectories: they are first captured by the interface and then `glide' towards its vertex point. Our experiments quantify this scenario, and numerical minimization of the Landau-de Gennes free energy allow for a qualitative description of the interfacial structure and the drag force.

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