Refusing to Twist: Demonstration of a Line Hexatic Phase in DNA Liquid Crystals
- 3 April 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 84 (14), 3105-3108
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.84.3105
Abstract
We report conclusive high resolution small angle x-ray scattering evidence that long DNA fragments form an untwisted line hexatic phase between the cholesteric and the crystalline phases. The line hexatic phase is a liquid-crystalline phase with long-range hexagonal bond-orientational order, long-range nematic order, but liquidlike, i.e., short-range, positional order. So far, it has not been seen in any other three dimensional system. By line-shape analysis of x-ray scattering data we found that positional order decreases when the line hexatic phase is compressed. We suggest that such anomalous behavior is a result of the chiral nature of DNA molecules.Keywords
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