COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF CHIRAL LIQUID-CRYSTAL PHASES - VII - THE CHIRAL GAY-BERNE DISCOGEN

The phase structures of chiral discotic liquid crystals were studied b y computer simulations. Bulk systems composed of uniaxial chiral disco tic molecules with interactions described by the Gay-Berne potential a nd an additive term for the energy of the chiral interaction were inve stigated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in the NVT ensemble. A dis cotic cholesteric phase (N-D) and a discotic blue phase (BPDII) were observed along an isotherm in dependence on the chirality parameter de scribing the strength of the chiral interaction. All phases were chara cterised by order parameters, scalar and pseudoscalar orientational co rrelation functions, and visual representations of selected configurat ions.