Blue-phase drops on a glass interface and their decoration at the cholesteric transition

Journal article, 2008

Free-surface drops of blue phase attached to a glass slide present topologically concentric lines, which we first believed to be steps at the air interface, as this was often observed in smectic drops or in other liquid crystals. Actually these contours lie at the glass interface, or in its close vicinity, but do not really form steps. While the existence of steps at the air interface cannot be excluded, we did not observe them in this study. Reproducible decorations were observed at the transition from the blue phase to the cholesteric liquid crystal, and showed a geometry close to that found in certain biological structures, which may be considered as stabilized analogues of blue phases.