Self-assembled Smectic-A monolayers composed of chiral fd viruses in the presence of a polymer depletant have been shown by the Dogic group to exhibit a variety of novel structures as a function of temperature and polymer concentration. After reviewing some of the experimental findings I will discuss a phenomenological theoretical model of this system based on the Helfrich membrane energy and the de Gennes theory of smectics. I will show how this model can be used to understand some of the fascinating experimental observations of fd self-assembly.
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