Smectic blue phases: layered systems with high intrinsic curvature

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2003 Oct;68(4 Pt 1):041703. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.68.041703. Epub 2003 Oct 13.

Abstract

We report on a construction for smectic blue phases, which have quasi-long-range smectic translational order as well as three-dimensional crystalline order. Our proposed structures fill space by adding layers on top of a minimal surface, introducing either curvature or edge defects as necessary. We find that for the right range of material parameters, the favorable saddle-splay energy of these structures can stabilize them against uniform layered structures. We also consider the nature of curvature frustration between mean curvature and saddle splay.