Edge dislocation core structure in lamellar smectic-A liquid crystals†
Abstract
The core of the smectic-A edge dislocation is resolved via simulation of a previously validated high-order Landau–de Gennes model. Simulations reveal that the smectic-A edge dislocation core is composed of a biaxial orientation field, in addition to a singularity in translational order, resulting from frustration between orientational and translational elasticity.