Fig. 5. Pinned preradial LC microparticles, their characterization, and theoretical predictions.

Representative (A) bright-field and (B) polarized light micrographs (double-headed arrows show orientations of polarizers) of a polymerized pinned preradial microparticle. (C) Illustration of the internal ordering of the microparticle in (A) and (B). (D) Coordinate system used to characterize the location of colloids adsorbed to the surfaces of the polymerized pinned preradial microparticles. (E) Bars: Normalized surface densities of PS probe colloids measured to adsorb onto the surfaces of polymerized pinned preradial microparticles. The pinned preradial microparticle data were calculated from 46 independent experiments with 121 polymerized LC microparticles and 493 adsorbed probe colloids. The error bars are 95% confidence intervals on the averages for the 121 LC microparticles. Triangles: Calculated colloid density on pinned preradial microparticles, evaluated using a strong homeotropic anchoring strength. The single-headed arrows on micrographs indicate the locations of the surface defects. Scale bars, 15 μm.