Abstract
We report an observation of a unique type of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in three-dimensional domains of a smectic- material consisting of achiral molecules. The observed helical structure clearly demonstrates the effect of an elastic coupling between the bend and the twist distortions in the field. The sign and the magnitude of the coupling coefficient are determined experimentally. We also demonstrate that an external chiral bias field favors domains of one handedness.
- Received 10 June 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.56.R4935
©1997 American Physical Society
