Disclination
Encyclopedia
A disclination is a line defect in which rotational symmetry
is violated. In analogy with dislocations in crystals, the term, disinclination, for liquid crystal
s first used by F. C. Frank and since then has been modified to its current usage, disclination.
It is a defect in the orientation of director whereas a dislocation
is a defect in positional order.
Rotational symmetry
Generally speaking, an object with rotational symmetry is an object that looks the same after a certain amount of rotation. An object may have more than one rotational symmetry; for instance, if reflections or turning it over are not counted, the triskelion appearing on the Isle of Man's flag has...
is violated. In analogy with dislocations in crystals, the term, disinclination, for liquid crystal
Liquid crystal
Liquid crystals are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal. For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. There are many different types of LC phases, which can be...
s first used by F. C. Frank and since then has been modified to its current usage, disclination.
It is a defect in the orientation of director whereas a dislocation
Dislocation
In materials science, a dislocation is a crystallographic defect, or irregularity, within a crystal structure. The presence of dislocations strongly influences many of the properties of materials...
is a defect in positional order.