Controlled Nanoparticle Targeting and Nanoparticle-Driven Nematic Structural Transition

Figure 4

The mechanical force experienced by different surface treated NPs as a function of distance within the hybrid cell sketched in Figure 1(a). . The NPs locally enforce (i) radial, (ii) melted, or (iii) homogeneous local LC ordering. The corresponding forces for a given position of NP are marked with (i) full line, (ii) dashed line, and (iii) dash-dotted line. In the figure we also schematically sketch homogeneous and radial NP-induced local ordering tendency.