There is a growing number of reports on achiral compounds
that display a new type of nematic phase, having a chiral
structure.[1, 2] The existence of such a phase, named the “twistbend
nematic (NTB)” is an intriguing and unique example of
spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking that occurs in a fluidic
state. The question about mechanism that might lead to
formation of chiral structures in achiral liquid is of fundamental
importance. It is also important to understand how
weak chiral interactions manifest themselves in such structures.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)[1–3] and
atomic force microscopy (AFM)[4] measurements showed
that the wavelength of spatial helical modulations in the NTB
phase is extremely short, just about 3 molecular lengths. Such