Acoustic Waves and Supramolecular Structures in Liquid Crystals

Abstract

The achievements in the study of the supramolecular structures arising in liquid crystals (LCs) under acoustic waves, which was started by the work of Professor А.P. Kapustin more than 50 years ago, are considered and generalized. The emphasis is on the problem of “threshold” destabilization of LC layer texture under mechanical deformations of different types generated by acoustic waves, which manifests itself in the formation of various supramolecular structures. Not only the factors determining the threshold characteristics of these structures for nematic and cholesteric LCs in a wide frequency range but also the dynamics of these structures above the threshold, as well as the specific features of their distortion under an acoustic binary effect are considered.