%0 Journal Article
%T Behavior of colloidal particles at a nematic liquid crystal interface
%+ Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C)
%+ Matière et Systèmes Complexes (MSC)
%A Gharbi, Mohamed Amine
%A Nobili, Maurizio
%A In, Martin
%A Prevot, Guillaume
%A Galatola, Paolo
%A Fournier, Jean-Baptiste
%A Blanc, Christophe
%< avec comité de lecture
%Z L2C:11-022
%@ 1744-683X
%J Soft Matter
%I Royal Society of Chemistry
%V 7
%P 1467
%8 2011-02-06
%D 2011
%R 10.1039/C0SM00863J
%Z Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Soft Condensed Matter [cond-mat.soft]Journal articles
%X We examine the behavior of spherical silica particles trapped at an air-nematic liquid crystal interface. When a strong normal anchoring is imposed, the beads spontaneously form various structures depending on their area density and the nematic thickness. Using optical tweezers, we determine the pair potential and explain the formation of these patterns. The energy profile is discussed in terms of capillary and elastic interactions. Finally, we detail the mechanisms that control the formation of a hexagonal lattice and analyze the role of gravity for curved interfaces.
%G English
%L hal-00565584
%U https://hal.science/hal-00565584
%~ UNIV-PARIS7
%~ CNRS
%~ L2C
%~ MIPS
%~ UNIV-MONTPELLIER
%~ UNIV-PARIS
%~ UP-SCIENCES
%~ ANR
%~ MSC-LAB
%~ UM-2015-2021