Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31704934›Full record

ArticleNature communications2019

Programming emergent symmetries with saddle-splay elasticity.

Yu Xia, Andrew A DeBenedictis, Dae Seok Kim, Shenglan Chen, Se-Um Kim, Douglas J Cleaver, Timothy J Atherton, Shu Yang

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Yu XiaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5393-059X
Andrew A DeBenedictisDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9129-8660
Dae Seok KimDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Shenglan ChenDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Se-Um KimDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Douglas J CleaverMaterials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, S1 1WB, UK. d.j.cleaver@shu.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4278-0098
Timothy J AthertonDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA. timothy.atherton@tufts.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7867-3879
Shu YangDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. shuyang@seas.upenn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8834-3320
University of Pennsylvania · USTufts University · USSheffield Hallam University · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The director field adopted by a confined liquid crystal is controlled by a balance between the externally imposed interactions and the liquid's internal orientational elasticity. While the latter is usually considered to resist all deformations, liquid crystals actually have an intrinsic propensity to adopt saddle-splay arrangements, characterised by the elastic constant [Formula: see text]. In most realisations, dominant surface anchoring treatments suppress such deformations, rendering [Formula: see text] immeasurable. Here we identify regimes where more subtle, patterned surfaces enable saddle-splay effects to be both observed and exploited. Utilising theory and continuum calculations, we determine experimental regimes where generic, achiral liquid crystals exhibit spontaneously broken surface symmetries. These provide a new route to measuring [Formula: see text]. We further demonstrate a multistable device in which weak, but directional, fields switch between saddle-splay-motivated, spontaneously-polar surface states. Generalising beyond simple confinement, our highly scalable approach offers exciting opportunities for low-field, fast-switching optoelectronic devices which go beyond current technologies.

Identifiers

PMID31704934
PMCPMC6841980
OpenAlexW2985055507

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.