Formation and distribution of point defects on a disclination line near a free nematic interface - art. no. 031701

Point defects of opposite signs can alternately nucleate on the -1/2 discli nation line that forms near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid c rystal. We show the existence of metastable configurations consisting of pe riodic repetitions of such defects. These configurations are characterized by a minimal interdefect spacing that is seen to depend on sample thickness and on an applied electric field. The time evolution of the defect distrib ution suggests that the defects attract at small distances and repel at lar ge distances.