Backflow-induced asymmetric annihilation of nematic disclinations under strong anchoring condition

In this paper, we report an experimental study of the dynamics of s = ±1=2 disclinations in the nematic liquidcrystalline phase of 4-cyano-4′-n-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) under a strong anchoring condition in an electric field. Their motion is clearly asymmetric; the +1/2 disclination moves almost twice as fast as the -1=2 one even under a strong anchoring condition, which is very similar to the case without the anchoring effect. An electric field significantly affects the rotation of the director around the disclinations, but only slightly affects backflow.