Abstract
Thin films of organic molecules, such as Langmuir monolayers and freely suspended smectic films, can exhibit a spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry. This chiral symmetry breaking can occur through at least three possible mechanisms: (1) the relation between tilt order and bond-orientational order in a tilted hexatic phase, (2) a special packing of non-chiral molecules on a two-dimensional surface, and (3) phase separation of a racemic mixture. Because the chiral order parameter is coupled to variations in the direction of molecular tilt, chiral symmetry breaking leads to the formation of patterns in the tilt direction with one-dimensional or two-dimensional order. Using a Landau theory, we investigate these patterns and predict the critical behavior near the chiral symmetry breaking transition.
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Acknowledgments
We thank C. M. Knobler, J. Maclennan, D. R. Nelson, J. M. Schnur, and M. Seul for many helpful discussions. This research was supported by the Donors of The Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, and by the Caltech Consortium in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; founding members: E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, and Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.
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Selinger, J.V., Wang, ZG. & Bruinsma, R.F. Chiral Symmetry Breaking and Pattern Formation in Two-Dimensional Films. MRS Online Proceedings Library 292, 235–240 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-292-235
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-292-235