Optical Textures and Orientational Structures in Cholesteric Droplets with Conical Boundary Conditions

Gardymova, Anna P.; Krakhalev, Mikhail N.; Zyryanov, Victor Ya. Molecules. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25071740

Cholesteric droplets dispersed in polymer with conical boundary conditions have been studied. The director configurations are identified by the polarising microscopy technique. The axisymmetric twisted axial-bipolar configuration with the surface circular defect at the droplet’s equator is formed at the relative chirality parameter $N_{0} \leq 2.9$ . The intermediate director configuration with the deformed circular defect is realised at $2.9 < N_{0} < 3.95$ , and the layer-like structure with the twisted surface defect loop is observed at $N_{0} \geq 3.95$ . The cholesteric layers in the layer-like structure are slightly distorted although the cholesteric helix is untwisted.