--- trunk/tengDissertation/LiquidCrystal.tex 2006/06/19 17:55:26 2869 +++ trunk/tengDissertation/LiquidCrystal.tex 2006/06/20 13:46:10 2870 @@ -211,245 +211,67 @@ phase behavior of banana shaped liquid crystals. \section{Computational Methodology} A series of molecular dynamics simulations were perform to study the -phase behavior of banana shaped liquid crystals. - -In each simulation, rod-like polar molecules have been represented -by polar ellipsoidal Gay-Berne (GB) particles. The four parameters -characterizing G-B potential were taken as $\mu = 1,~ \nu = 2, -~\epsilon_{e}/\epsilon_{s} - = 1/5$ and $\sigma_{e}/\sigma_{s} = 3$. The components of the -scaled moment of inertia $(I^{*} = I/m \sigma_{s}^{2})$ along the -major and minor axes were $I_{z}^{*} = 0.2$ and $I_{\perp}^{*} = -1.0$. We used the reduced dipole moments $ \mu^{*} = \mu/(4 \pi -\epsilon_{fs} \sigma_{0}^{3})^{1/2}= 1.0$ for terminal dipole and - $ \mu^{*} = \mu/(4 -\pi \epsilon_{fs} \sigma_{0}^{3})^{1/2}= 0.5$ for second dipole, -where $\epsilon_{fs}$ was the permitivitty of free space. For all -simulations the position of the terminal dipole - has been kept - at a fixed distance $d^{*} = d/\sigma_{s} = 1.0 $ from the -centre of mass on the molecular symmetry axis. The second dipole -takes $d^{*} = d/\sigma_{s} = 0.0 $ i.e. it is on the centre of -mass. To investigate the molecular organization behaviour due to -different dipolar orientation with respect to the symmetry axis, we -selected dipolar angle $\alpha_{d} = 0$ to model terminal outward -longitudinal dipole and $\alpha_{d} = \pi/2$ to model transverse -outward dipole where the second dipole takes relative anti -antiparallel orientation with respect to the first. System of -molecules having a single transverse terminal dipole has also been -studied. We ran a series of simulations to investigate the effect of -dipoles on molecular organization. - -In each of the simulations 864 molecules were confined in a cubic -box with periodic boundary conditions. The run started from a -density $\rho^{*} = \rho \sigma_{0}^{3}$ = 0.01 with nonpolar -molecules loacted on the sites of FCC lattice and having parallel -orientation. This structure was not a stable structure at this -density and it was melted at a reduced temperature $T^{*} = k_{B}T/ -\epsilon_{0} = 4.0$ . We used this isotropic configuration which was -both orientationally and translationally disordered, as the initial -configuration for each simulation. The dipoles were also switched on -from this point. Initial translational and angular velocities were -assigned from the gaussian distribution of velocities. - -To get the ordered structure for each system of particular dipolar -angles we increased the density from $\rho^{*} = 0.01$ to $\rho_{*} -= 0.3$ with an increament size of 0.002 upto $\rho^{*} = 0.1$ and -0.01 for the rest at some higher temperature. Temperature was then -lowered in finer steps to avoid ending up with disordered glass -phase and thus to help the molecules set with more order. For each -system this process required altogether $5 \times 10^{6}$ MC cycles -for equilibration. - -The torques and forces were calculated using velocity verlet -algorithm. The time step size $\delta t^{*} = \delta t/(m -\sigma_{0}^{2} / \epsilon_{0})^{1/2}$ was set at 0.0012 during the -process. The orientations of molecules were described by quaternions -instead of Eulerian angles to get the singularity-free orientational -equations of motion. - -The interaction potential was truncated at a cut-off radius $r_{c} = -3.8 \sigma_{0}$. The long range dipole-dipole interaction potential -and torque were handled by the application of reaction field method -~\cite{Allen87}. - -To investigate the phase structure of the model liquid crystal -family we calculated the orientational order parameter, correlation -functions. To identify a particular phase we took configurational -snapshots at the onset of each layered phase. - -The orientational order parameter for uniaxial phase was calculated -from the largest eigen value obtained by diagonalization of the -order parameter tensor +phase behavior of banana shaped liquid crystals. In each simulation, +every banana shaped molecule has been represented three GB particles +which is characterized by $\mu = 1,~ \nu = 2, +~\epsilon_{e}/\epsilon_{s} = 1/5$ and $\sigma_{e}/\sigma_{s} = 3$. +All of the simulations begin with same equilibrated isotropic +configuration where 1024 molecules without dipoles were confined in +a $160\times 160 \times 120$ box. After the dipolar interactions are +switched on, 2~ns NPTi cooling run with themostat of 2~ps and +barostat of 50~ps were used to equilibrate the system to desired +temperature and pressure. +To investigate the phase structure of the model liquid crystal, we +calculated various order parameters and correlation functions. +Particulary, the $P_2$ order parameter allows us to estimate average +alignment along the director axis $Z$ which can be identified from +the largest eigen value obtained by diagonalizing the order +parameter tensor \begin{equation} -\begin{array}{lr} -Q_{\alpha \beta} = \frac{1}{2 N} \sum(3 e_{i \alpha} e_{i \beta} -- \delta_{\alpha \beta}) & \alpha, \beta = x,y,z \\ -\end{array} +\overleftrightarrow{\mathsf{Q}} = \frac{1}{N}\sum_i^N % + \begin{pmatrix} % + u_{ix}u_{ix}-\frac{1}{3} & u_{ix}u_{iy} & u_{ix}u_{iz} \\ + u_{iy}u_{ix} & u_{iy}u_{iy}-\frac{1}{3} & u_{iy}u_{iz} \\ + u_{iz}u_{ix} & u_{iz}u_{iy} & u_{iz}u_{iz}-\frac{1}{3} % + \end{pmatrix}, +\label{lipidEq:po1} \end{equation} +where the $u_{i\alpha}$ is the $\alpha$ element of the unit vector +$\mathbf{\hat{u}}_i$, and the sum over $i$ averages over the whole +collection of unit vectors. The $P_2$ order parameter for uniaxial +phase is then simply given by +\begin{equation} +\langle P_2 \rangle = \frac{3}{2}\lambda_{\text{max}}. +\label{lipidEq:po3} +\end{equation} +In addition to the $P_2$ order parameter, $ R_{2,2}^2$ order +parameter for biaxial phase is introduced to describe the ordering +in the plane orthogonal to the director by +\begin{equation} +R_{2,2}^2 = \frac{1}{4}\left\langle {(x_i \cdot X)^2 - (x_i \cdot +Y)^2 - (y_i \cdot X)^2 + (y_i \cdot Y)^2 } \right\rangle +\end{equation} +where $X$, $Y$ and $Z$ are axis of the director frame. -where $e_{i \alpha}$ was the $\alpha$ th component of the unit -vector $e_{i}$ along the symmetry axis of the i th molecule. -Corresponding eigenvector gave the director which defines the -average direction of molecular alignment. -The density correlation along the director is $g(z) = < \delta -(z-z_{ij})>_{ij} / \pi R^{2} \rho $, where $z_{ij} = r_{ij} cos -\beta_{r_{ij}}$ was measured in the director frame and $R$ is the -radius of the cylindrical sampling region. +The density correlation along the director is +\begin{equation}g(z) =< \delta (z-z_{ij})>_{ij} / \pi R^{2} \rho +\end{equation}, +where $z_{ij} = r_{ij} cos \beta_{r_{ij}}$ was measured in the +director frame and $R$ is the radius of the cylindrical sampling +region. \section{Results and Conclusion} \label{sec:results and conclusion} -Analysis of the simulation results shows that relative dipolar -orientation angle of the molecules can give rise to rich -polymorphism of polar mesophases. - -The correlation function g(z) shows layering along perpendicular -direction to the plane for a system of G-B molecules with two -transverse outward pointing dipoles in fig. \ref{fig:1}. Both the -correlation plot and the snapshot (fig. \ref{fig:4}) of their -organization indicate a bilayer phase. Snapshot for larger system of -1372 molecules also confirms bilayer structure (Fig. \ref{fig:7}). -Fig. \ref{fig:2} shows g(z) for a system of molecules having two -antiparallel longitudinal dipoles and the snapshot of their -organization shows a monolayer phase (Fig. \ref{fig:5}). Fig. -\ref{fig:3} gives g(z) for a system of G-B molecules with single -transverse outward pointing dipole and fig. \ref{fig:6} gives the -snapshot. Their organization is like a wavy antiphase (stripe -domain). Fig. \ref{fig:8} gives the snapshot for 1372 molecules -with single transverse dipole near the end of the molecule. +To investigate the molecular organization behavior due to different +dipolar orientation and position with respect to the center of the +molecule, -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig1.ps} -\end{center} -\caption { Density projection of molecular centres (solid) and -terminal dipoles (broken) with respect to the director g(z) for a -system of G-B molecules with two transverse outward pointing -dipoles, the first dipole having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ and the -second dipole having $d^{*}=0.0$, $\mu^{*}=0.5$} \label{fig:1} -\end{figure} -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig2.ps} -\end{center} -\caption { Density projection of molecular centres (solid) and -terminal dipoles (broken) with respect to the director g(z) for a -system of G-B molecules with two antiparallel longitudinal dipoles, -the first outward pointing dipole having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ -and the second dipole having $d^{*}=0.0$, $\mu^{*}=0.5$} -\label{fig:2} -\end{figure} - -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig3.ps} -\end{center} -\caption {Density projection of molecular centres (solid) and -terminal - dipoles (broken) with respect to the director g(z) -for a system of G-B molecules with single transverse outward -pointing dipole, having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$} \label{fig:3} -\end{figure} - -\begin{figure} -\centering \epsfxsize=2.5in \epsfbox{fig4.eps} \caption{Typical -configuration for a system of 864 G-B molecules with two transverse -dipoles, the first dipole having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ and the -second dipole having $d^{*}=0.0$, $\mu^{*}=0.5$. The white caps -indicate the location of the terminal dipole, while the orientation -of the dipoles is indicated by the blue/gold coloring.} -\label{fig:4} -\end{figure} - -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig5.ps} -\end{center} -\caption {Snapshot of molecular configuration for a system of 864 -G-B molecules with two antiparallel longitudinal dipoles, the first -outward pointing dipole - having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ and the second dipole having $d^{*}=0.0$, -$\mu^{*}=0.5$ (fine lines are molecular symmetry axes and small -thick lines show terminal dipolar direction, central dipoles are not -shown).} \label{fig:5} -\end{figure} - - -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig6.ps} -\end{center} -\caption {Snapshot of molecular configuration for a system of 864 -G-B molecules with single transverse outward pointing dipole, having -$d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ (fine lines are molecular symmetry axes -and small thick lines show terminal dipolar direction).} -\label{fig:6} -\end{figure} - -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig7.ps} -\end{center} -\caption {Snapshot of molecular configuration for a system of 1372 -G-B molecules with two transverse outward pointing dipoles, the -first dipole having $d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ and the second dipole -having $d^{*}=0.0$, $\mu^{*}=0.5$(fine lines are molecular symmetry -axes and small thick lines show terminal dipolar direction, central -dipoles are not shown).} \label{fig:7} -\end{figure} - -\begin{figure} -\begin{center} -\epsfxsize=3in \epsfbox{fig8.ps} -\end{center} -\caption {Snapshot of molecular configuration for a system of 1372 -G-B molecules with single transverse outward pointing dipole, having -$d^{*}=1.0$, $\mu^{*}=1.0$ (fine lines are molecular symmetry axes -and small thick lines show terminal dipolar direction).} -\label{fig:8} -\end{figure} - -Starting from an isotropic configuaration of polar Gay-Berne -molecules, we could successfully simulate perfect bilayer, antiphase -and monolayer structure. To break the up-down symmetry i.e. the -nonequivalence of directions ${\bf \hat {n}}$ and ${ -\bf \hat{n}}$, -the molecules should have permanent electric or magnetic dipoles. -Longitudinal electric dipole interaction could not form polar -nematic phase as orientationally disordered phase with larger -entropy is stabler than polarly ordered phase. In fact, stronger -central dipole moment opposes polar nematic ordering more -effectively in case of rod-like molecules. However, polar ordering -like bilayer $A_{2}$, interdigitated $A_{d}$, and wavy $\tilde A$ in -smectic layers can be achieved, where adjacent layers with opposite -polarities makes bulk phase a-polar. More so, lyotropic liquid -crystals and bilayer bio-membranes can have polar layers. These -arrangements appear to get favours with the shifting of longitudinal -dipole moment to the molecular terminus, so that they can have -anti-ferroelectric dipolar arrangement giving rise to local (within -the sublayer) breaking of up-down symmetry along the director. -Transverse polarity breaks two-fold rotational symmetry, which -favours more in-plane polar order. However, the molecular origin of -these phases requires something more which are apparent from the -earlier simulation results. We have shown that to get perfect -bilayer structure in a G-B system, alongwith transverse terminal -dipole, another central dipole (or a polarizable core) is required -so that polar head and a-polar tail of Gay-Berne molecules go to -opposite directions within a bilayer. This gives some kind of -clipping interactions which forbid the molecular tail go in other -way. Moreover, we could simulate other varieties of polar smectic -phases e.g. monolayer $A_{1}$, antiphase $\tilde A$ successfully. -Apart from guiding chemical synthesization of ferroelectric, -antiferroelectric liquid crystals for technological applications, -the present study will be of scientific interest in understanding -molecular level interactions of lyotropic liquid crystals as well as -nature-designed bio-membranes. - \section{\label{liquidCrystalSection:methods}Methods} \section{\label{liquidCrystalSection:resultDiscussion}Results and Discussion}