Impact of diffusion limited aggregates of impurities on nematic ordering

We study the impact of random bond-type disorder on two-dimensional (2D) orientational ordering of nematic liquid crystal (LC) configurations. The lattice Lebwohl-Lasher pseudospin model is used to model orientational ordering perturbed by frozen-in rod-like impurities of concentration p exhibiting the isotropic orientational probability distribution. The impurities are either (i) randomly spatially distributed or (ii) form diffusion limited aggregation (DLA)-type patterns characterized by the fractal dimensions df, where we consider cases df∼1.7 and df∼1.9. The degree of orientational ordering is quantified in terms of the orientational pair correlation function G(r). Simulations reveal that the DLA pattern imposed disorder has a significantly weaker impact for a given concentration of impurities. Furthermore, if samples are quenched from the isotropic LC phase, then the fractal dimension is relatively strongly imprinted on quantitative characteristics of G(r).