Light-controlled skyrmions and torons as reconfigurable particles

Optics Express 27(20), 29055-29068 (2019) Topological solitons, such as skyrmions, arise in field theories of systems ranging from Bose-Einstein condensates to optics, particle physics, and cosmology, but they are rarely accessible experimentally. Chiral nematic liquid crystals provide a platform to...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Sohn, Hayley R. O, Liu, Changda D, Smalyukh, Ivan I
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 17.10.2019
Subjects
Physics - Applied Physics
Physics - Soft Condensed Matter
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Summary:Optics Express 27(20), 29055-29068 (2019) Topological solitons, such as skyrmions, arise in field theories of systems ranging from Bose-Einstein condensates to optics, particle physics, and cosmology, but they are rarely accessible experimentally. Chiral nematic liquid crystals provide a platform to study skyrmions because of their natural tendency to form twisted structures arising from the lack of mirror symmetry at the molecular level. However, large-scale dynamic control and technological utility of skyrmions remain limited. Combining experiments and numerical modeling of chiral liquid crystals with optically controlled helical pitch, we demonstrate that low-intensity, unstructured light can control stability, dimensions, interactions, spatial patterning, self-assembly, and dynamics of these topological solitons.
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1910.08045