Credit: Image courtesy of Juan de Pablo, University of Chicago
Confined in droplets, exotic phases of liquid crystals have been simulated (left) and experimentally observed (right). These phases result from defects that are organized into highly ordered patterns. The geometrical characteristics of this three-dimensional arrangement can be controlled by manipulating the droplet’s size, temperature, and interfacial characteristics. As the organization of the defects changes, it diffracts light differently, leading to pronounced color changes. The panels on the right show experimentally observed droplets, in which color is altered by temperature changes of a fraction of a degree. The image on the left shows the array of defects that is predicted to exist within the droplets.