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arXiv · 1006.4448

Scaling of the elastic contribution to the surface free energy of a nematic on a sawtoothed substrate

Jose Manuel Romero-Enrique·Chi-Tuong Pham·Pedro Patricio
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Abstract

We characterize the elastic contribution to the surface free energy of a nematic in presence of a sawtooth substrate. Our findings are based on numerical minimization of the Landau-de Gennes model and analytical calculations on the Frank-Oseen theory. The nucleation of disclination lines (characterized by non-half-integer winding numbers) in the wedges and apexes of the substrate induces a leading order proportional to qlnq to the elastic contribution to the surface free energy density, q being the wavenumber associated with the substrate periodicity.

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Jose Manuel Romero-Enrique, Chi-Tuong Pham, Pedro Patricio. 2010-06-23. Scaling of the elastic contribution to the surface free energy of a nematic on a sawtoothed substrate. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.82.011707

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