Orientation control of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals in the capillary bridge

Abstract

We investigate the orientation of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs) in the capillary bridge surrounded by air walls made of glass and line-patterned silicon hybrid cells. The optical textures of uniaxial, escaped, and non-symmetric chiral structures of LCLCs generated depending on the width of the capillary bridge are directly observed by polarized optical microscopy (POM), which are figured out using image analysis and simulations. Our resultant platform will be useful in dichroic optical films, optoelectronic devices, and sensors due to its high regularity.