Phys. Rev. E 63, 031701 (2001) [9 pages]Formation and distribution of point defects on a disclination line near a free nematic interfaceReceived 1 October 2000; published 20 February 2001 Point defects of opposite signs can alternately nucleate on the -1/2 disclination line that forms near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal. We show the existence of metastable configurations consisting of periodic repetitions of such defects. These configurations are characterized by a minimal interdefect spacing that is seen to depend on sample thickness and on an applied electric field. The time evolution of the defect distribution suggests that the defects attract at small distances and repel at large distances. © 2001 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.63.031701
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.63.031701
PACS:
61.30.Jf, 61.30.Gd
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