Columnar phases are the bread-and-butter of my research. One of the challenges that we often face in identifying these phases is getting them to grow characteristic textures. There's a lot of trial and error in this; how quickly you cool the sample from the isotropic phase matters, as does the slide preparation (we prefer to load our liquids by capillary action between the slide and the cover slip).
One factor that figures into this alignment; homeotropically aligned samples, in which viewer is looking straight down on the columns, appear dark by POM. Only where the columns are tilted do you get color. In the movie below, a columnar phase of a dibenzophenazine derivative emerges upon cooling from the isotropic liquid. But you can't see much; the black areas visible at the end of the video are liquid crystalline, just homeotropically aligned. One of these days, I'll post a video showing a similar video, but viewed through a quarter wave plate.
One factor that figures into this alignment; homeotropically aligned samples, in which viewer is looking straight down on the columns, appear dark by POM. Only where the columns are tilted do you get color. In the movie below, a columnar phase of a dibenzophenazine derivative emerges upon cooling from the isotropic liquid. But you can't see much; the black areas visible at the end of the video are liquid crystalline, just homeotropically aligned. One of these days, I'll post a video showing a similar video, but viewed through a quarter wave plate.