Figure 5. Evolution of the yielded region following 5 min of 60 Hz microbutton rotation.

Although the yielded region had appeared to be largely domain-free (Fig. 4), discrete but highly deformed LC domains have maintained their identity and liquid-crystalline orientational order. (a–d) After the stress has been relieved, line tension pulls domains (red) from imperceptibly thin, extended structures (a) to more energetically favourable compact structures (d). Domains exchange neighbours by relative sliding (green), and topological 'T1' transitions, wherein domains that are initially North–South neighbours (light-blue) make way for East–West neighbours (dark-blue) as during the coarsening of foams and emulsions5 (scale bar, 20 μm).