20.500.12556/RUL-169131 Microscale structural fluctuations at the melting phase transition of strongly confined achiral and chiral nematics We report on direct microscopic observations of thermally driven fluctuating dynamics in a narrow temperature region between the isotropic and low-temperature phases in achiral, chiral, and strongly chiral (blue phase) liquid crystal materials. We observe the dynamics in samples strongly confined between two glass surfaces which act as disordering surfaces at thicknesses above the critical confinement thickness below which the phase transition is gradual. In achiral and long-pitch chiral materials the fluctuating appears as formation and disappearance of small structureless nematic domains, whereas in strongly chiral materials, which exhibit blue phase I at larger thicknesses, these fluctuations are real-time formation and annihilation of topologically nontrivial nematic half-skyrmions. We study the dynamics of these fluctuations and present a simple model that explains how such dynamics is possible in ultraconfined systems. low-pressure microwave plasma liquid crystal materials nematic phase transition tekočekristalni materiali termodinamika fazni prehodi true false true American Physical Society Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-05-14 05:40:03 2025-05-21 11:37:22 2025-05-22 04:03:48 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 str. 045415-1-045415-18 Vol. 111, 045415 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 53 2470-0053 10.1103/PhysRevE.111.045415 235566851 https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.111.045415 1 e8dde21c-3073-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=210310 PhysRevE.111.045415.pdf PhysRevE.111.045415.pdf 1 81C4790CFF057B2DEE5651BA107AED82 d2e59a6a2a9ac2fe37ea9bed1f5f76d499c5307aebcfac068eb624d7cca68a61 bc356da3-3625-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=210536 Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko 0 0 0