Of our main interest in this work is the stabilization of assemblies of topological defects (TDs) in liquid crystals (LCs). Due to the topological origin of TDs, the physics of defects is of interest for all branches of physics, including condensed matter systems, particle physics, and cosmology. LCs represent an …
The thesis presents experimental studies of colloidal interactions and novel colloidal structures in confined nematic liquid crystal using optical tweezers. Liquid crystal colloids are a novel class of composite materials with well-controlled periodic structures in the nanometer and micrometer ranges. Moreover, they also posses novel mechanical, optical and rheological properties, …