The high viscosity of the SB 3/5 imine material and
stability of the NTB* phase at room temperature even for days,
despite being monotropic, enabled detailed AFM studies. The
AFM images obtained in the chiral NTB* phase depended on
the sample preparation process. If the sample was prepared
between glass plates with planar anchoring, opened and
immediately examined by AFM, a smooth surface was
detected. However, if the sample with one free surface was
heated above the NTB*-N* transition and subsequently cooled
down and kept at room temperature for few hours, tiny and
birefringent mosaic textures developed. The AFM images of
such samples revealed a fingerprint pattern (Figure 5a),