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M Impéror-Clerc

Publications and source records attributed to M Impéror-Clerc.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Exploring the facets of "soft crystals" using an Atomic Force Microscope.

We obtained monocrystalline droplets in a thermotropic cubic phase, of approximate size 100 microm, deposited on a flat surface. The facets of these soft crystals are explored using both an optical microscope and an AFM. The height of individual steps on the principal facets and the lateral distance between steps in vicinal facets are measured using AFM in imaging (tapping) mode. Moreover, the elastic modulus is measured locally, using the AFM tip (in contact mode) as a local rheological probe.

Crystallization↗

New investigation on the tetragonal liquid-crystalline phase or SmQ.

Chiral liquid crystals, for which twist and smectic order strongly compete, can exhibit complex architectures. This is the case of the SmQ phase which shows a high degree of 3D order (tetragonal or hexagonal) as well as a liquid signature. We have combined X-ray scattering and optical observations on a new compound exhibiting a SmQ phase to discriminate between the two models proposed by A.M. Levelut et al. (J. Phys. II 7, 981 (1997)) at the molecular level for the phase with the I4(1)22 space group.

Journal Article↗