Banded spherulitic growth in a liquid crystal

Spherulitic growth produces radial arrays of polycrystalline aggregates in a wide variety of materials, ranging from pure elements to macromolecules. Despite more than a century of study, a generally accepted theory of spheru litic growth is lacking; indeed, the existence of a common mechanism is deb ated. One commonly seen subset of this growth morphology - banded spherulit es - exhibits bands concentric about the spherulite centers. These bands ha ve been well characterized in polymer spherulites, but remain poorly unders tood. Comparisons of such bands in a diverse variety of materials will help establish a general mechanism for their formation. Here we present a detai led optical and atomic-force microscopy study of banding in a liquid crysta lline material. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.