We have studied tilted surface layers in the bulk SmA temperature window of one liquid crystal using null transmission ellipsometry. Five distinct nonplanar surface structures were observed. We present analyses of the tilt and azimuthal profiles of the structures and examine the transitions between the structures. The transitions are identified as a double reentrant synclinic-anticlinic-synclin...

Chevron structures adopted by confined smectic liquid crystals are investigated via molecular dynamics simulations of the Gay-Berne model. The chevrons are formed by quenching nematic films confined between aligning planar substrates whose easy axes have opposing azimuthal components. When the substrates are perfectly smooth, the chevron formed migrates rapidly towards one of the confining wall...

For a liquid droplet to slide down a solid planar surface, the surface usually has to be tilted above a critical angle of approximately 10°. By contrast, droplets of nearly any liquid "slip" on lubricant-infused textured surfaces - so termed slippery surfaces - when tilted by only a few degrees. The mechanism of how the lubricant alters the static and dynamic properties of the drop remains elus...

We report the results of a phase-field study of degenerate seaweed to tilted dendrite transition and their growth dynamics during directional solidification of a binary alloy. Morphological selection maps in the planes of (G, Vp) and (ε4, Vp) show that lower pulling velocity, weaker anisotropic strength and higher thermal gradient can enhance the formation of the degenerate seaweed. The tip und...

Tilted algebras, that is endomorphism algebras of tilting modules over a hereditary algebra, have been one of the main objects of study in representation theory of algebras since their introduction by Happel and Ringel [10]. As a generalization, Happel, Reiten and Smalø studied endomorphism algebras of tilting objects of a hereditary abelian category which they call quasi-tilted algebras [9]. T...

Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy of polyoxometalate-protected gold nanoparticles reveals that the Preyssler ion, [NaP(5)W(30)O(110)](14-), lies "face down" with its C(5) axis perpendicular to the gold surface, while the Finke-Droege ion, [P(4)W(30)Zn(4)(H(2)O)(2)O(112)](16-), is "tilted", with its long axis close to 60° from the normal to the surface.

The correspondence between the degree of polarization and the surface normal is not one to one; thus, to obtain the correct surface normal, we have to solve this ambiguity problem. The proposed method solves the ambiguity by comparing two sets of data, one of which is obtained by observing the object as it is, while the other is obtained by observing the object tilted in a small angle. We indic...

Inspired by the adhesion mechanisms of several animal species such as geckos, beetles and flies, several efforts in designing and fabricating surface engineering strategies have been made recently to mimic the adhesive and frictional behaviour of biological foot pads. An important feature of such biological adhesion systems is the ability to switch between strong attachment and easy detachment,...

Studying Gaussian beam is a method to investigate laser beam propagation and ABCD matrix is a fast and simple method to simulate Gaussian beam propagation in different mediums. Of the ABCD matrices studied so far, reflection and refraction matrices at various surfaces have attracted a lot of researches. However in previous work the incident beam and the principle axis of surface are in parallel...