Fractal growth of the liquid crystalline B2 phase of a bent-core mesogen

Fractal growth patterns can be observed during the formation of the liquid crystalline B2 phase of a bent-core molecule from the isotropic melt. The time development of the box dimension Db, the information dimension Di and the mass dimension Dm was determined during the phase ordering process, as the cell gap, quench depth and quench rate was varied. The fractal dimensions obtained for various growth patterns were of the order of D ≈ 1.82–1.89 in a two-dimensional medium, values which are generally found for percolation clusters in condensed matter systems. The fractal dimension increases for increasing cell gap, but is basically independent on quench depth and rate.