20.500.12556/RUL-152842 Skyrmions in blue phases of chiral liquid crystals Using high-resolution microscope observations, we show that both the static cubic (BPI) and the dynamic amorphous (BPIII) blue phases consist of fractional skyrmion filaments that transform into the same quasi two-dimensional structure of ‘baby’ half-skyrmions upon confinement to ultra-thin layers. We confirm this using numerical simulations of BPIII skyrmion structures in confinement combined with optical simulations, which reproduce experimental images, shown to originate at the glass-sample boundaries. Chiral nature of skyrmion filaments is demonstrated through experimental observations and optical simulations using circularly polarised light of opposite handedness producing images that vary strongly in comparative optical contrast. Direct observations and light scattering measurements of BPIII dynamics in bulk reveal that it is a highly dynamic phase, distinguished by two well-separated dynamic regimes, the slower of which can be observed even with a naked eye. We show that the slow dynamics corresponds to the thermally driven collective reshaping of the amorphous structure, while the fast mode is due to the director fluctuations within the filaments. Chirality of the relaxation modes in the bulk isotropic phase is also demonstrated and discussed. We show the dynamics in thinnest layers still show a two phase behaviour, with overall dynamics of half-skyrmions dramatically slowed down. liquid crystals chiral nematics blue phases skyrmions blue fog fractional skyrmions topological liquid tekoči kristali kiralni nematiki modre faze skirmioni true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2023-12-08 14:36:13 2023-12-08 14:36:13 2023-12-09 03:49:42 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2023 0 0 Str. 1406–1425 no. 7/10 Vol. 50 2023 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 538.9 0267-8292 10.1080/02678292.2023.2188613 147562243 Skyrmions_in_blue_phases_of_chiral_liquid_crystals.pdf Skyrmions_in_blue_phases_of_chiral_liquid_crystals.pdf 1 E251EB60EBAD03CEC95436F27D46AF14 c53209e01cad16f23a616dc69739e8939c9fb6b70a7eeeb4acfe771702cb7fca 206d9cfd-95cf-11ee-9c20-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=178530 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678292.2023.2188613 0 f173f768-95ce-11ee-9c20-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=178529 Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko 0 0 0