Exploring Hidden Local Ordering in Microemulsions with a Weak Directive Second Order Parameter

So far, the near-surface ordering of microemulsions was focused on lamellar ordering while the bulk microemulsion was bicontinuous. In a series of different non-ionic surfactants the near-surface ordering of microemulsions at a hydrophilic silicon surface was studied using grazing incidence small angle neutron scattering. For the surfactant C8E3, most likely a gyroid structure was found at the solid–liquid interface, while the more efficient surfactants find lamellar ordering up to lamellar capillary condensation. The ranges for near-surface ordering are deeper than the bulk correlation lengths. These findings point towards theories that use directional order parameters that would lead to deeper near-surface ordering than simple theories with a single scalar order parameter would predict. Rheology experiments display high viscosities at very low shear rates and, therefore, support the existence of a directional order parameter.

From Point to Filament Defects in Hybrid Nematic Films

We have studied nematic hybrid films with homeotropic alignment at the top surface and various controlled degrees of in plane ordering, going from a random degenerate organization to a completely uniform alignment along one direction, at the bottom one. We show, by Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations and experiments on photopatterned films with the bottom support surface fabricated with in-plane order similar to the simulated ones, that the point defects observed in the case of random planar orientations at the bottom tend to arrange along a filament as the surface ordering is sufficiently increased. MC simulations complement the polarized microscopy texture observations allowing to inspect the 3D structure of the defects and examine the role of elastic constants.