Molecular orientation change nearby topological defects observed by the photo-induced phase microscopy

Abstract

Topological defects in liquid crystals (LCs) have been intensively studied and intentionally generated in an organized way recently because they could control the alignment and motion of LC. We observed the molecular orientation change of LC including the defects by using the photo-induced phase microscopy. In addition, we determined the type of the molecular orientation change by the observation of color image sequences and the analysis of spectral response. We revealed the orientation change was disordering process and this happened from the defects and two defects was connected by the disordering region.