Ferrocholesteric–ferronematic transitions induced by shear flow and magnetic field

• Dmitriy V. Makarov,
• Alexander A. Novikov and
• Alexander N. Zakhlevnykh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2552–2561, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.255

• Dmitriy V. Makarov Alexander A. Novikov Alexander N. Zakhlevnykh Physics of Phase Transitions Department, Perm State University, Bukireva St. 15, 614990 Perm, Russia 10.3762/bjnano.8.255 Abstract We study the unwinding of the ferrocholesteric helical structure induced by a combined action of a

• magnetic field and a shear flow. Both influences are able to induce the ferrocholesteric–ferronematic transition independently; however, the differences between the magnetic field orientation and the flow alignment direction lead to a competition between magnetic and hydrodynamic mechanisms of influence on

• the ferrocholesteric structure. We analyze various orientations of a magnetic field relative to the direction of a shear flow. The pitch of the ferrocholesteric helix is obtained as function of the strength and the orientation angle of the magnetic field, the shear velocity gradient and a reactive