Extended Data Fig. 5: Coarse-grained visualization of LC phases and background alignment.
From: Thermally reconfigurable monoclinic nematic colloidal fluids
a–i, Simplified schematics of different hybrid phases of 5CB molecular rods (grey) and colloidal disks (blue) for the orthorhombic nematic (a), monoclinic nematic (b), monoclinic smectic (c), columnar (d), orthorhombic columnar nematic (e), uniaxial nematic (f), uniaxial nematic with colloidal columns (g), isotropic (h) and colloidal nematic (i) states. An elementary columnar cell in d is depicted in red, with details shown in Fig. 5h. j, Phase diagram upon variation of ρ, T and Z*e, with ‘Co-ex’ referring to co-existence regions. Disks aggregate at Z*e < +10e and form Wigner-type crystals at Z*e > +100e (ref. 10). T is measured with an error of ±0.1°; relative errors for ρ and Z*e are ±5% and ±1%, respectively. k, 3PEFPM image of a 5CB dispersion of disks at ρ = 0.32 μm−3 and T = 27.0 ± 0.1 °C for linear polarization of the excitation light parallel to nm. l, 3PEFPM intensity, averaged over the field of view, versus the angle between the linear polarization of the excitation light and nm (measured with an error of less than ±1°) for 5CB with colloidal disks and pure 5CB under the same conditions. m, n, Visualization of nm between two disks at θe = 75° (m) and θe = 30° (n), with black isosurfaces enclosing spatial regions in which Sm is reduced by >5% relative to its equilibrium bulk value. Regions of distorted nm are highlighted by coloured streamlines, with blue and yellow depicting opposite tilt directions.
