The interplay between chirality, confinement and elasticity can drive the spontaneous formation of complex polarization patterns in chiral ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals. Researchers from the Department of Complex Matter and Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Jožef Stefan Institute, together with collaborators from the University of the Basque Country and the University of Leeds, have shown how these three factors work together to transform an initially uniform state into a variety of ordered structures. In a new study published in Advanced Materials, the researchers show that when the pitch of the material under confinement deviates from its natural pitch, periodic instabilities emerge as the material approaches a heliconical polar state. Near such transition, the bend elastic constant of the liquid crystal softens. The combination of the material’s preferred helical structure, confinement, and reduced resistance to bending drives the formation of periodic polarization patterns.