“…Both FCDs and TFCDs have been studied during the fabrication of highly ordered LC defect arrays through different methods, such as self-assembly [5][6][7][8][9] or external stimuli driven transformations. 6,10,11 Well-organized arrays of topological defects have been successfully employed in applications, such as particle manipulation, 12,13 micro lenses, 14,15 micropatterns, 16,17 and vortex beam generators. 18,19 So far, most studies on SmA LCs focused on manipulating and utilizing these SmA LC defects.…”