A Ten-Year Perspective on Twist-Bend Nematic Materials

The discovery of the twist-bend nematic phase (N(TB)) is a milestone within the field of liquid crystals. The N(TB) phase has a helical structure, with a repeat length of a few nanometres, and is therefore chiral, even when formed by achiral molecules. The discovery and rush to understand the rich physics of the N(TB) phase has provided a fresh impetus to the design and characterisation of dimeric and oligomeric liquid crystalline materials. Now, ten years after the discovery of the N(TB) phase, we review developments in this area, focusing on how molecular features relate to the incidence of this phase, noting the progression from simple symmetrical dimeric materials towards complex oligomers, non-covalently bonded supramolecular systems.