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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jun 18.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2019 Dec 18;576(7787):433–436. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1809-8

Fig. 3 |. Director configurations within NLCO structures.

Fig. 3 |

a, Bright-field image of spherical NLCO drop with a single, central radial hedgehog defect. b-c, POM coupled with full-wave retardation plate enables identification of nematic director configurations within a section of a y-branched NLCO filamentous structure. Yellow indicates northwest-southeast alignment; cyan indicates northeast-southwest alignment. Inset: 2D projected director field schematic. d-e, The hedgehog always remains at the center of drop, even for complex structures, e.g., after evolving to a flower-shape (bright-field (d); POM image and director field schematic (inset)) or a filamentous structure (hedgehog appears as the cross-pattern in POM (e)). Note, structures in (d-e) were weakly confined in a quasi-2D chamber so that filaments tended to grow perpendicular to optical axis, providing easy observation of the point defect. Scale bar is 10 μm.