Multiple Twisted Chiral Nematic Structures in Cylindrical Confinement

In this article, we theoretically and numerically study the chirality and saddle-splay elastic constant (K24)-enabled stability of multiple twist-like nematic liquid crystal (LC) structures in cylindrical confinement. We focus on the so-called radially z-twisted (RZT) and radially twisted (RT) configurations, which simultaneously exhibit twists in different spatial directions. We express the free energies of the structures in terms of dimensionless wave vectors, which characterise the structures and play the roles of order parameters. The impact of different confinement anchoring conditions is explored. A simple Landau-type analysis provides an insight into how different model parameters influence the stability of structures. We determine conditions for which the structures are stable in chiral and also nonchiral LCs. In particular, we find that the RZT structure could exhibit macroscopic chirality inversion upon varying the relevant parameters. This phenomenon could be exploited for the measurement of K24.