Abstract
Topological defects, or disclinations in nematic liquid crystals, occur where the orientation of the director is discontinuous. Investigating means of controlling of the shape and topology of disclinations has recently attracted interest owing to their potential for applications; however, most studies to date have focused on systems in which colloidal particles were introduced or complex-shaped substrates were used, and hence had limited tunability. Here we demonstrate the generation and electric field control of disclinations based on surface alignment control in a nematic liquid crystal slab. By imprinting easy axis distributions containing singular points on substrates in contact with the liquid crystal, we show that disclinations with controlled numbers and shapes can be induced in the bulk, and that they can be reconfigured by voltages as low as 1.5 V.
