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. 2015 Jul 6;6:7603. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8603

Figure 3. High-chirality regime.

Figure 3

Typical XPOL (upper row) and FT (middle row) images of short-pitch cholesteric droplets with perpendicular (a–d) and parallel (e,f) surface anchoring. Perpendicular case: pitch p=12.3 μm, droplet diameter d=139 μm, N≈23. The two sets of pictures correspond to different imaging planes that allow to visualize the surface (a,b) and the equatorial plane (c,d) of the droplet. Parallel case: pitch p=12.3 μm, droplet diameter d=121 μm, N≈20. Scale bars, 50 μm. Bottom row: illustration of the director ordering. Perpendicular case: (g) shows typical subsurface spiralling disclination numerically predicted for short-pitch cholesterics in the case of droplets with perpendicular surface anchoring conditions, whereas h refers to bulk director field where cholesteric layers are indicated by parallel equidistant lines. Parallel case: i corresponds to well-known radial cholesteric droplet. Sketch g is adapted from ref. 10, whereas sketches h,i are adapted from ref. 27.