Electrically Tunable Reflective Terahertz Phase Shifter Based on Liquid Crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jun; Xia, Tianyu; Jing, Shuaicheng; Deng, Guangsheng; Lu, Hongbo; Fang, Yong; Yin, Zhiping

2018-02-01

We present a reflective spatial phase shifter which operates at terahertz regime above 325 GHz. The controllable permittivity of the nematic liquid crystals was utilized to realize a tunable terahertz (THz) reflective phase shifter. The reflective characteristics of the terahertz electromagnetic waves and the liquid crystal parameters were calculated and analyzed. We provide the simulation results for the effect of the incident angle of the plane wave on the reflection. The experiment was carried out considering an array consisting of 30 × 30 patch elements, printed on a 20 × 20 mm quartz substrate with 1-mm thickness. The phase shifter provides a tunable phase range of 300° over the frequency range of 325 to 337.6 GHz. The maximum phase shift of 331° is achieved at 330 GHz. The proposed phase shifter is a potential candidate for THz applications, particularly for reconfigurable reflectarrays.

Possible quantum liquid crystal phases of helium monolayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, S.; Matsui, K.; Matsui, T.; Fukuyama, Hiroshi

2016-11-01

The second-layer phase diagrams of 4He and 3He adsorbed on graphite are investigated. Intrinsically rounded specific-heat anomalies are observed at 1.4 and 0.9 K, respectively, over extended density regions in between the liquid and incommensurate solid phases. They are identified to anomalies associated with the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young type two-dimensional melting. The prospected low temperature phase (C2 phase) is a commensurate phase or a quantum hexatic phase with quasi-bond-orientational order, both containing zero-point defectons. In either case, this would be the first atomic realization of the quantum liquid crystal, a new state of matter. From the large enhancement of the melting temperature over 3He, we propose to assign the observed anomaly of 4He-C 2 phase at 1.4 K to the hypothetical supersolid or superhexatic transition.

Phase-Shifting Liquid Crystal Interferometers for Microgravity Fluid Physics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, DeVon W.; Marshall, Keneth L.

2002-01-01

The initial focus of this project was to eliminate both of these problems in the Liquid Crystal Point-Diffraction Interferometer (LCPDI). Progress toward that goal will be described, along with the demonstration of a phase shifting Liquid Crystal Shearing Interferometer (LCSI) that was developed as part of this work. The latest LCPDI, other than a lens to focus the light from a test section onto a diffracting microsphere within the interferometer and a collimated laser for illumination, the pink region contained within the glass plates on the rod-mounted platform is the complete interferometer. The total width is approximately 1.5 inches with 0.25 inches on each side for bonding the electrical leads. It is 1 inch high and there are only four diffracting microspheres within the interferometer. As a result, it is very easy to align, achieving the first goal. The liquid crystal electro-optical response time is a function of layer thickness, with thinner devices switching faster due to a reduction in long-range viscoelastic forces between the LC molecules. The LCPDI has a liquid crystal layer thickness of 10 microns, which is controlled by plastic or glass microspheres embedded in epoxy 'pads' at the corners of the device. The diffracting spheres are composed of polystyrene/divinyl benzene polymer with an initial diameter of 15 microns. The spheres deform slightly when the interferometer is assembled to conform to the spacing produced by the microsphere-filled epoxy spacer pads. While the speed of this interferometer has not yet been tested, previous LCPDIs fabricated at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics switched at a rate of approximately 3.3 Hz, a factor of 10 slower than desired. We anticipate better performance when the speed of these interferometers is tested since they are approximately three times thinner. Phase shifting in these devices is a function of the AC voltage level applied to the liquid crystal. As the voltage increases, the dye in the liquid crystal

Optical characterization of polymer liquid crystal cell exhibiting polymer blue phases.

PubMed

Zhang, Bao-Yan; Meng, Fan-Bao; Cong, Yue-Hua

2007-08-06

The optical properties of polymer liquid crystal cell exhibiting polymer blue phases (PBPs) have been determined using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, polarizing optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray measurements, FTIR imaging and optical rotation technique. PBPs are thermodynamically stabile mesophases, which appear in chiral systems between isotropic and liquid crystal phases. A series of cyclosiloxane-based blue phase polymers were synthesized using a cholesteric LC monomer and a nematic LC monomer, and some of the polymers exhibit PBPs in temperature range over 300 degrees in cooling cycles. The unique property based on their structure and different twists formed and expect to open up new photonic application and enrich polymer blue phase contents and theory.

Directed self-assembly of liquid crystalline blue-phases into ideal single-crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-González, Jose A.; Li, Xiao; Sadati, Monirosadat; Zhou, Ye; Zhang, Rui; Nealey, Paul F.; de Pablo, Juan J.

2017-06-01

Chiral nematic liquid crystals are known to form blue phases--liquid states of matter that exhibit ordered cubic arrangements of topological defects. Blue-phase specimens, however, are generally polycrystalline, consisting of randomly oriented domains that limit their performance in applications. A strategy that relies on nano-patterned substrates is presented here for preparation of stable, macroscopic single-crystal blue-phase materials. Different template designs are conceived to exert control over different planes of the blue-phase lattice orientation with respect to the underlying substrate. Experiments are then used to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to create stable single-crystal blue-phase domains with the desired orientation over large regions. These results provide a potential avenue to fully exploit the electro-optical properties of blue phases, which have been hindered by the existence of grain boundaries.

Blue phase liquid crystal: strategies for phase stabilization and device development

PubMed Central

Rahman, M D Asiqur; Mohd Said, Suhana; Balamurugan, S

2015-01-01

The blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) is a highly ordered liquid crystal (LC) phase found very close to the LC–isotropic transition. The BPLC has demonstrated potential in next-generation display and photonic technology due to its exceptional properties such as sub-millisecond response time and wide viewing angle. However, BPLC is stable in a very small temperature range (0.5–1 °C) and its driving voltage is very high (∼100 V). To overcome these challenges recent research has focused on solutions which incorporate polymers or nanoparticles into the blue phase to widen the temperature range from around few °C to potentially more than 60 °C. In order to reduce the driving voltage, strategies have been attempted by modifying the device structure by introducing protrusion or corrugated electrodes and vertical field switching mechanism has been proposed. In this paper the effectiveness of the proposed solution will be discussed, in order to assess the potential of BPLC in display technology and beyond. PMID:27877782

Common path point diffraction interferometer using liquid crystal phase shifting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

A common path point diffraction interferometer uses dyed, parallel nematic liquid crystals which surround an optically transparent microsphere. Coherent, collimated and polarized light is focused on the microsphere at a diameter larger than that of the microsphere. A portion of the focused light passes through the microsphere to form a spherical wavefront reference beam and the rest of the light is attenuated by the dyed liquid crystals to form an object beam. The two beams form an interferogram which is imaged by a lens onto an electronic array sensor and into a computer which determines the wavefront of the object beam. The computer phase shifts the interferogram by stepping up an AC voltage applied across the liquid crystals without affecting the reference beam.

Directed Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystalline Blue-Phases into Ideal Single-Crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martinez-Gonzalez, Jose A.; Li, Xiao; Sadati, Monirosadat

Chiral nematic liquid crystals are known to form blue phases—liquid states of matter that exhibit ordered cubic arrangements of topological defects. Blue-phase specimens, however, are generally polycrystalline, consisting of randomly oriented domains that limit their performance in applications. A strategy that relies on nano-patterned substrates is presented here for preparation of stable, macroscopic single-crystal blue-phase materials. Different template designs are conceived to exert control over different planes of the blue-phase lattice orientation with respect to the underlying substrate. Experiments are then used to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to create stable single-crystal blue-phase domains with the desired orientation overmore » large regions. Lastly, these results provide a potential avenue to fully exploit the electro-optical properties of blue phases, which have been hindered by the existence of grain boundaries.« less

Directed Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystalline Blue-Phases into Ideal Single-Crystals

DOE PAGES

Martinez-Gonzalez, Jose A.; Li, Xiao; Sadati, Monirosadat; ...

2017-06-16

Chiral nematic liquid crystals are known to form blue phases—liquid states of matter that exhibit ordered cubic arrangements of topological defects. Blue-phase specimens, however, are generally polycrystalline, consisting of randomly oriented domains that limit their performance in applications. A strategy that relies on nano-patterned substrates is presented here for preparation of stable, macroscopic single-crystal blue-phase materials. Different template designs are conceived to exert control over different planes of the blue-phase lattice orientation with respect to the underlying substrate. Experiments are then used to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to create stable single-crystal blue-phase domains with the desired orientation overmore » large regions. Lastly, these results provide a potential avenue to fully exploit the electro-optical properties of blue phases, which have been hindered by the existence of grain boundaries.« less

Liquid Crystals: The Phase of the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ondris-Crawford, Renate; And Others

1992-01-01

Liquid crystal displays are currently utilized to convey information via graphic displays. Presents experiments and explanations that employ the concept of liquid crystals to learn concepts related to the various states of matter, electric and magnetic forces, refraction of light, and optics. Discusses applications of liquid crystal technology.…

Statistical physics of modulated phases in nematic liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shamid, Shaikh M.

Nematic liquid crystals are the state of the matter in which there is no positional order like crystals but it has orientational order of the constituent molecules. In the conventional nematics, the long axes of the rod-like molecules tend to align up or down uniformly along a director n. If the constituent molecules are chiral, they tend to form a modulated structure in one of the space dimensions. They are called the chiral nematics. If the chirality is strong enough we get the modulated structures in all three dimensions called the chiral blue phase. On the other hand, if the molecules are achiral, but an additional polar dipole is attached to the molecules, they also tend to form a modulated structure. In these types of materials we observe an important physical effect called flexoelectric effect, in which the polar order is linearly coupled to the director gradients. This dissertation work presents analytical and simulation studies of that modulated structures using the flexoelectric mechanism. Classic work by R. B. Meyer and further studies by I. Dozov predicted two possible structures, known as twist-bend and splay-bend. One of these predictions, the twist-bend phase, has recently been identified in experiments on bent-shaped liquid crystals. In this recently discovered twist-bend nematic phase the modulation is along one of the space dimensions. If this flexoelectric coupling is strong enough, in addition to twist-bend and splay-bend, here we predict the formation of polar analog of chiral blue phases (in both 2D and 3D) made of achiral polar liquid crystal materials by using Elastic continuum theory-based numerical calculations and computer simulations. This dissertation work also presents the coarse-grained theory of twist-bend phase. This theory predicts normal modes of fluctuation in both sides of nematic to twist-bend transition, which then compared with light scattering experiments. Macroscopic elastic and electric properties of twist-bend nematics

Statistics of wormlike chains. II. Phase transition of polymer liquid crystals and its mixture with low molecular weight liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, W. X.; Zhao, S. R.; Sun, C. P.

1997-02-01

A general self-consistent field (SCF) for the mixture of polymer and low molecular weight (LMW) molecules has been derived by variation principle. Considering a Maier-Saupe type of interaction, the analytical expressions of the SCF for polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) and the mixture of PLCs and LMW liquid crystals are obtained, from which the phase behaviors of PLCs as well as the mixture are studied. The theoretical results are in agreement with experimental results by adjusting a parameter.

Temperature tuning of lasing emission from dye-doped liquid crystal at intermediate twisted phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Kuan-Cheng; Lin, Ja-Hon; Jian, Li-Hao; Chen, Yao-Hui; Wu, Jin-Jei

2015-07-01

Temperature tuning of lasing emission from dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) at intermediate twisted phase has been demonstrated in this work. With heavily doping of 42.5% chiral molecules into the nematic liquid crystals, the shifts of photonic bandgap versus temperature is obviously as thermal controlling of the sample below the certain value. By the differential scanning calorimetr measuremet, we demonstrate the phase transition from the CLC to the smectic phase when the temperature is lowered to be about 15°C. Between CLC and smectic phase, the liquid crystal mixtures are operated at intermediate twisted phase that can be used the temperature related refractive mirror. After pump by the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, the lasing emission from this dye doped LC mixtures has been demonstrated whose emission wavelength can be tuned from 566 to 637 nm with 1.4°C variation.

Identification of polymer stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal display by chromaticity diagram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Yi-Fen; Tsai, Cheng-Yeh; Wang, Ling-Yung; Ku, Po-Jen; Huang, Tai-Hsiang; Liu, Chu-Yu; Sugiura, Norio

2012-04-01

We reported an identification method of blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) display status by using Commission International de l'Éclairage (CIE) chromaticity diagram. The BPLC was injected into in-plane-switch (IPS) cell, polymer stabilized (PS) by ultraviolet cured process and analyzed by luminance colorimeter. The results of CIE chromaticity diagram showed a remarkable turning point when polymer stabilized blue phase liquid crystal II (PSBPLC-II) formed in the IPS cell. A mechanism of CIE chromaticity diagram identify PSBPLC display status was proposed, and we believe this finding will be useful to application and production of PSBPLC display.

Tunable two-dimensional photonic crystals using liquid crystal infiltration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonard, S. W.; Mondia, J. P.; van Driel, H. M.; Toader, O.; John, S.; Busch, K.; Birner, A.; Gösele, U.; Lehmann, V.

2000-01-01

The photonic band gap of a two-dimensional photonic crystal is continuously tuned using the temperature dependent refractive index of a liquid crystal. Liquid crystal E7 was infiltrated into the air pores of a macroporous silicon photonic crystal with a triangular lattice pitch of 1.58 μm and a band gap wavelength range of 3.3-5.7 μm. After infiltration, the band gap for the H polarized field shifted dramatically to 4.4-6.0 μm while that of the E-polarized field collapsed. As the sample was heated to the nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature of the liquid crystal (59 °C), the short-wavelength band edge of the H gap shifted by as much as 70 nm while the long-wavelength edge was constant within experimental error. Band structure calculations incorporating the temperature dependence of the liquid crystal birefringence can account for our results and also point to an escaped-radial alignment of the liquid crystal in the nematic phase.

Theoretical modeling on the laser-induced phase deformation of liquid crystal optical phased shifter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhuangqi; Wang, Xiangru; Zhuo, Rusheng; He, Xiaoxian; Wu, Liang; Wang, Xiaolin; Tan, Qinggui; Qiu, Qi

2018-03-01

To improve the working condition of liquid crystal phase shifter on incident laser power, a theoretical model on laser induced phase distortion is built on the physics of heat deposition and heat transfer. Four typical factors (absorption, heat sink structure, cooling fluid rate, and substrate) are analyzed to evaluate the influence of phase distortion when a relative high-power laser is pumped into the liquid crystal phase shifter. Flow rate of cooling fluid and heat sink structure are the most important two factors on improving the limit of incident laser power. Meanwhile, silicon wafer is suggested to replace the back glass contacting the heat sink, because of its higher heat transfer coefficient. If the device is fabricated on the conditions that: the total absorption is 5% and it has a strong heat sink structure with a flow rate of 0.01 m/s, when the incident laser power is 110W, the laser-induced phase deformation on the center is diminished to be less than 0.06, and the maximum temperature increase on the center is less than 1K degree.

Large Electro-Optic Kerr Effect in Ionic Liquid Crystals: Connecting Features of Liquid Crystals and Polyelectrolytes.

PubMed

Schlick, M Christian; Kapernaum, Nadia; Neidhardt, Manuel M; Wöhrle, Tobias; Stöckl, Yannick; Laschat, Sabine; Giesselmann, Frank

2018-06-06

The electro-optic Kerr effect in simple dipolar fluids such as nitrobenzene has been widely applied in electro-optical phase modulators and light shutters. In 2005, the discovery of the large Kerr effect in liquid-crystalline blue phases (Y. Hisakado et al., Adv. Mater. 2005, 17, 96-98.) gave new directions to the search for advanced Kerr effect materials. Even though the Kerr effect is present in all transparent and optically isotropic media, it is well known that the effect can be anomalously large in complex fluids, namely in the isotropic phase of liquid crystals or in polyelectrolyte solutions. Herein, it is shown that the Kerr effect in the isotropic phase of ionic liquid crystals combines the effective counterion polarization mechanism found in polyelectrolytes and the unique pretransitional growth of the Kerr constant found in the isotropic phase of nematic liquid crystals. Maximum Kerr constants in the order of several 10 -11  m V -2 (ten times higher than the Kerr constant of the toxic nitrobenzene and less temperature sensitive than Kerr constants of nematic liquid crystals) make ionic liquid crystals attractive as new class of functional materials in low-speed Kerr effect applications. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Homeotropic alignment of multiple bent-core liquid crystal phases using a polydimethylsiloxane alignment layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Eric D.; Foley, Lee M.; Guzman, Edward; Korblova, Eva D.; Visvanathan, Rayshan; Ryu, SeongHo; Gim, Min-Jun; Tuchband, Michael R.; Yoon, Dong Ki; Clark, Noel A.; Walba, David M.

2017-08-01

The control of the molecular orientation of liquid crystals (LCs) is important in both understanding phase properties and the continuing development of new LC technologies including displays, organic transistors, and electro-optic devices. Many techniques have been developed for successfully inducing alignment of calamitic LCs, though these techniques typically do not translate to the alignment of bent-core liquid crystals (BCLCs). Some techniques have been utilized to align various phases of BCLCs, but these techniques are often unsuccessful for general alignment of multiple materials and/or multiple phases. Here, we demonstrate that glass cells treated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin films induce high quality homeotropic alignment of multiple mesophases of four BCLCs. On cooling to the lowest temperature phase the homeotropic alignment is lost, and spherulitic growth is seen in crystal and crystal-like phases including the dark conglomerate (DC) and helical nanofilament (HNF) phases. Evidence of homeotropic alignment is observed using polarized optical microscopy. We speculate that the methyl groups on the surface of the PDMS films strongly interact with the aliphatic tails of each mesogens, resulting in homeotropic alignment.

Templated Sphere Phase Liquid Crystals for Tunable Random Lasing

PubMed Central

Chen, Ziping; Hu, Dechun; Chen, Xingwu; Zeng, Deren; Lee, Yungjui; Chen, Xiaoxian; Lu, Jiangang

2017-01-01

A sphere phase liquid crystal (SPLC) composed of three-dimensional twist structures with disclinations among them exists between isotropic phase and blue phase in a very narrow temperature range, about several degrees centigrade. A low concentration polymer template is applied to improve the thermal stability of SPLCs and broadens the temperature range to more than 448 K. By template processing, a wavelength tunable random lasing is demonstrated with dye doped SPLC. With different polymer concentrations, the reconstructed SPLC random lasing may achieve more than 40 nm wavelength continuous shifting by electric field modulation. PMID:29140283

Evidence of monotropic hexatic tilted smectic phase in the phase sequence of ferroelectric liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Różycka, Anna; Deptuch, Aleksandra; Jaworska-Gołąb, Teresa; Węgłowska, Dorota; Marzec, Monika

2018-02-01

Physical properties of a new ferroelectric liquid crystal have been studied by complementary methods: differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy, dielectric and X-ray diffraction. It was found that next to enantiotropic ferroelectric smectic C* phase, the monotropic smectic phase appears at cooling. X-ray diffraction measurements allowed to identify this phase as hexatic tilted smectic. Temperature dependence of spontaneous polarization, tilt angle of molecules and switching time were found in both liquid crystalline phases at cooling. Based on the dielectric results, the dielectric processes were identified as Goldstone mode in the smectic C* phase, whereas as the bond-orientation-like phason and the bulk domain mode in the monotropic hexatic tilted smectic phase.

Polymer Stabilization of Liquid-Crystal Blue Phase II toward Photonic Crystals.

PubMed

Jo, Seong-Yong; Jeon, Sung-Wook; Kim, Byeong-Cheon; Bae, Jae-Hyun; Araoka, Fumito; Choi, Suk-Won

2017-03-15

The temperature ranges where a pure simple-cubic blue phase (BPII) emerges are quite narrow compared to the body-centered-cubic BP (BPI) such that the polymer stabilization of BPII is much more difficult. Hence, a polymer-stabilized BPII possessing a wide temperature range has been scarcely reported. Here, we fabricate a polymer-stabilized BPII over a temperature range of 50 °C including room temperature. The fabricated polymer-stabilized BPII is confirmed via polarized optical microscopy, Bragg reflection, and Kossel diagram observations. Furthermore, we demonstrate reflective BP liquid-crystal devices utilizing the reflectance-voltage performance as a potential application of the polymer-stabilized BPII. Our work demonstrates the possibility of practical application of the polymer-stabilized BPII to photonic crystals.

Photonic band-gap modulation of blue phase liquid crystal (Presentation Recording)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Tsung-Hsien

2015-10-01

Blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) are self-assembled 3D photonic crystals exhibiting high susceptibility to external stimuli. Two methods for the photonic bandgap tuning of BPs were demonstrated in this work. Introducing a chiral azobenzene into a cholesteric liquid crystal could formulate a photoresponsive BPLC. Under violet irradiation, the azo dye experiences trans-cis isomerization, which leads to lattice swelling as well as phase transition in different stages of the process. Ultrawide reversible tuning of the BP photonic bandgap from ultraviolet to near infrared has been achieved. The tuning is reversible and nonvolatile. We will then demonstract the electric field-induced bandgap tuning in polymer-stabilized BPLCs. Under different BPLCs material preparation conditions, both red-shift and broadening of the photonic bandgaps have been achieved respectively. The stop band can be shifted over 100 nm. The bandwidth can be expanded from ~ 30 nm to ~ 250 nm covering nearly the full visible range. It is believed that the developed approaches could strongly promote the use of BPLC in photonic applications.

Colloidal Material Box: In-situ Observations of Colloidal Self-Assembly and Liquid Crystal Phase Transitions in Microgravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, WeiBin; Lan, Ding; Sun, ZhiBin; Geng, BaoMing; Wang, XiaoQing; Tian, WeiQian; Zhai, GuangJie; Wang, YuRen

2016-05-01

To study the self-assembly behavior of colloidal spheres in the solid/liquid interface and elucidate the mechanism of liquid crystal phase transition under microgravity, a Colloidal Material Box (CMB) was designed which consists of three modules: (i) colloidal evaporation experimental module, made up of a sample management unit, an injection management unit and an optical observation unit; (ii) liquid crystal phase transition experimental module, including a sample management unit and an optical observation unit; (iii) electronic control module. The following two experimental plans will be performed inside the CMB aboard the SJ-10 satellite in space. (i) Self-assembly of colloidal spheres (with and without Au shell) induced by droplet evaporation, allowing observation of the dynamic process of the colloidal spheres within the droplet and the change of the droplet outer profile during evaporation; (ii) Phase behavior of Mg2Al LDHs suspensions in microgravity. The experimental results will be the first experimental observations of depositing ordered colloidal crystals and their self-assembly behavior under microgravity, and will illustrate the influence of gravity on liquid crystal phase transition.

Charge Transport and Phase Behavior of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid Crystals from Fully Atomistic Simulations.

PubMed

Quevillon, Michael J; Whitmer, Jonathan K

2018-01-02

Ionic liquid crystals occupy an intriguing middle ground between room-temperature ionic liquids and mesostructured liquid crystals. Here, we examine a non-polarizable, fully atomistic model of the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate family using molecular dynamics in the constant pressure-constant temperature ensemble. These materials exhibit a distinct "smectic" liquid phase, characterized by layers formed by the molecules, which separate the ionic and aliphatic moieties. In particular, we discuss the implications this layering may have for electrolyte applications.

Influence of surfactant on the thermal behavior of marigold oil emulsions with liquid crystal phases.

PubMed

dos Santos, Orlando David Henrique; da Rocha-Filho, Pedro Alves

2007-05-01

Vegetable oils have been largely consumed owing to the interest of pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries in using natural raw materials. The production of stable emulsions with vegetable oils challenges formulators due to its variability in composition and fatty acids constitution within batches produced. In the present work, it was studied that the influence of the size of carbon chain and the number of ethylene oxide moieties of the surfactant on the thermal behavior of eight emulsions prepared with marigold oil stabilized by liquid crystal phases. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the thermal behavior of the emulsions. The ratio of bound water was calculated, being between 29.0 and 42.0%, confirming the extension of the liquid-crystalline net in the external phase. Changing the lipophilic surfactant from Ceteth-2 to Steareth-2, there was an increase in the temperature of phase transition of the liquid crystal influencing the system stability. Calorimetric study is very useful in understanding the performance of liquid crystals with the increase of temperature and to estimate emulsions stability.

Thermotropic liquid crystals from biomacromolecules

PubMed Central

Liu, Kai; Chen, Dong; Marcozzi, Alessio; Zheng, Lifei; Su, Juanjuan; Pesce, Diego; Zajaczkowski, Wojciech; Kolbe, Anke; Pisula, Wojciech; Müllen, Klaus; Clark, Noel A.; Herrmann, Andreas

2014-01-01

Complexation of biomacromolecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, or viruses) with surfactants containing flexible alkyl tails, followed by dehydration, is shown to be a simple generic method for the production of thermotropic liquid crystals. The anhydrous smectic phases that result exhibit biomacromolecular sublayers intercalated between aliphatic hydrocarbon sublayers at or near room temperature. Both this and low transition temperatures to other phases enable the study and application of thermotropic liquid crystal phase behavior without thermal degradation of the biomolecular components. PMID:25512508

Characterization of submillisecond response optical addressing phase modulator based on low light scattering polymer network liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiangjie, Zhao; Cangli, Liu; Jiazhu, Duan; Dayong, Zhang; Yongquan, Luo

2015-01-01

Optically addressed conventional nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator has attracted wide research interests. But the slow response speed limited its further application. In this paper, polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) was proposed to replace the conventional nematic liquid crystal to enhance the response time to the order of submillisecond. The maximum light scattering of the employed PNLC was suppressed to be less than 2% at 1.064 μm by optimizing polymerization conditions and selecting large viscosity liquid crystal as solvent. The occurrence of phase ripple phenomenon due to electron diffusion and drift in photoconductor was found to deteriorate the phase modulation effect of the optical addressed PNLC phase modulator. The wavelength effect and AC voltage frequency effect on the on state dynamic response of phase change was investigated by experimental methods. These effects were interpreted by electron diffusion and drift theory based on the assumption that free electron was inhomogeneously distributed in accordance with the writing beam intensity distribution along the incident direction. The experimental results indicated that the phase ripple could be suppressed by optimizing the wavelength of the writing beam and the driving AC voltage frequency when varying the writing beam intensity to generate phase change in 2π range. The modulation transfer function was also measured.

Charge Transport and Phase Behavior of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid Crystals from Fully Atomistic Simulations

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Ionic liquid crystals occupy an intriguing middle ground between room-temperature ionic liquids and mesostructured liquid crystals. Here, we examine a non-polarizable, fully atomistic model of the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate family using molecular dynamics in the constant pressure–constant temperature ensemble. These materials exhibit a distinct “smectic” liquid phase, characterized by layers formed by the molecules, which separate the ionic and aliphatic moieties. In particular, we discuss the implications this layering may have for electrolyte applications. PMID:29301305

Two-dimensional liquid crystalline growth within a phase-field-crystal model.

PubMed

Tang, Sai; Praetorius, Simon; Backofen, Rainer; Voigt, Axel; Yu, Yan-Mei; Wang, Jincheng

2015-07-01

By using a two-dimensional phase-field-crystal (PFC) model, the liquid crystalline growth of the plastic triangular phase is simulated with emphasis on crystal shape and topological defect formation. The equilibrium shape of a plastic triangular crystal (PTC) grown from an isotropic phase is compared with that grown from a columnar or smectic-A (CSA) phase. While the shape of a PTC nucleus in the isotropic phase is almost identical to that of the classical PFC model, the shape of a PTC nucleus in CSA is affected by the orientation of stripes in the CSA phase, and irregular hexagonal, elliptical, octagonal, and rectangular shapes are obtained. Concerning the dynamics of the growth process, we analyze the topological structure of the nematic order, which starts from nucleation of +1/2 and -1/2 disclination pairs at the PTC growth front and evolves into hexagonal cells consisting of +1 vortices surrounded by six satellite -1/2 disclinations. It is found that the orientational and the positional order do not evolve simultaneously; the orientational order evolves behind the positional order, leading to a large transition zone, which can span over several lattice spacings.

Fast response liquid crystal devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yung-Hsun

LC-based VOA. In Chapter 7, we report a new device called axially-symmetric sheared polymer network liquid crystals (AS-SPNLC) and use it as LC devices. Through analyzing the structure of this axially-symmetric SPNLC, we construct a 3-D model to explain the observed phenomena. An axially-symmetric sheared polymer network liquid crystal has several attractive features: (1) it is polarization independent, (2) it has gradient phase change, and (3) its response time is fast. It can be used for polarization converter and divergent LC lens. In addition, a new method for simultaneously measuring the phase retardation and optic axis of a compensation film is demonstrated using an axially-symmetric sheared polymer network liquid crystal. By overlaying a tested compensation film with a calibrated SPNLC cell between crossed polarizers, the optic axis and phase retardation value of the compensation film can be determined. This simple technique can be used for simultaneously measuring the optic axis and phase retardations of both A- and C-plates. These compensation films have been used extensively in wide-view LCD industry. Therefore, this method will make an important impact to the LCD industry.

Characterization of submillisecond response optical addressing phase modulator based on low light scattering polymer network liquid crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiangjie, Zhao, E-mail: zxjdouble@163.com, E-mail: zxjdouble@gmail.com; Cangli, Liu; Jiazhu, Duan

Optically addressed conventional nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator has attracted wide research interests. But the slow response speed limited its further application. In this paper, polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) was proposed to replace the conventional nematic liquid crystal to enhance the response time to the order of submillisecond. The maximum light scattering of the employed PNLC was suppressed to be less than 2% at 1.064 μm by optimizing polymerization conditions and selecting large viscosity liquid crystal as solvent. The occurrence of phase ripple phenomenon due to electron diffusion and drift in photoconductor was found to deteriorate the phase modulationmore » effect of the optical addressed PNLC phase modulator. The wavelength effect and AC voltage frequency effect on the on state dynamic response of phase change was investigated by experimental methods. These effects were interpreted by electron diffusion and drift theory based on the assumption that free electron was inhomogeneously distributed in accordance with the writing beam intensity distribution along the incident direction. The experimental results indicated that the phase ripple could be suppressed by optimizing the wavelength of the writing beam and the driving AC voltage frequency when varying the writing beam intensity to generate phase change in 2π range. The modulation transfer function was also measured.« less

A compensation method for the full phase retardance nonuniformity in phase-only liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulators.

PubMed

Teng, Long; Pivnenko, Mike; Robertson, Brian; Zhang, Rong; Chu, Daping

2014-10-20

A simple and efficient compensation method for the full correction of both the anisotropic and isotropic nonuniformity of the light phase retardance in a liquid crystal (LC) layer is presented. This is achieved by accurate measurement of the spatial variation of the LC layer's thickness with the help of a calibrated liquid crystal wedge, rather than solely relying on the light intensity profile recorded using two crossed polarizers. Local phase retardance as a function of the applied voltage is calculated with its LC thickness and a set of reference data measured from the intensity of the reflected light using two crossed polarizers. Compensation of the corresponding phase nonuniformity is realized by applying adjusted local voltage signals for different grey levels. To demonstrate its effectiveness, the proposed method is applied to improve the performance of a phase-only liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulator (SLM). The power of the first diffraction order measured with the binary phase gratings compensated by this method is compared with that compensated by the conventional crossed-polarizer method. The results show that the phase compensation method proposed here can increase the dynamic range of the first order diffraction power significantly from 15~21 dB to over 38 dB, while the crossed-polarizer method can only increase it to 23 dB.

Formation of porous crystals via viscoelastic phase separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsurusawa, Hideyo; Russo, John; Leocmach, Mathieu; Tanaka, Hajime

2017-10-01

Viscoelastic phase separation of colloidal suspensions can be interrupted to form gels either by glass transition or by crystallization. With a new confocal microscopy protocol, we follow the entire kinetics of phase separation, from homogeneous phase to different arrested states. For the first time in experiments, our results unveil a novel crystallization pathway to sponge-like porous crystal structures. In the early stages, we show that nucleation requires a structural reorganization of the liquid phase, called stress-driven ageing. Once nucleation starts, we observe that crystallization follows three different routes: direct crystallization of the liquid phase, the Bergeron process, and Ostwald ripening. Nucleation starts inside the reorganized network, but crystals grow past it by direct condensation of the gas phase on their surface, driving liquid evaporation, and producing a network structure different from the original phase separation pattern. We argue that similar crystal-gel states can be formed in monatomic and molecular systems if the liquid phase is slow enough to induce viscoelastic phase separation, but fast enough to prevent immediate vitrification. This provides a novel pathway to form nanoporous crystals of metals and semiconductors without dealloying, which may be important for catalytic, optical, sensing, and filtration applications.

Morphology effect on the light scattering and dynamic response of polymer network liquid crystal phase modulator.

PubMed

Xiangjie, Zhao; Cangli, Liu; Jiazhu, Duan; Jiancheng, Zeng; Dayong, Zhang; Yongquan, Luo

2014-06-16

Polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) was one of the most potential liquid crystal for submillisecond response phase modulation, which was possible to be applied in submillisecond response phase only spatial light modulator. But until now the light scattering when liquid crystal director was reoriented by external electric field limited its phase modulation application. Dynamic response of phase change when high voltage was applied was also not elucidated. The mechanism that determines the light scattering was studied by analyzing the polymer network morphology by SEM method. Samples were prepared by varying the polymerization temperature, UV curing intensity and polymerization time. The morphology effect on the dynamic response of phase change was studied, in which high voltage was usually applied and electro-striction effect was often induced. The experimental results indicate that the polymer network morphology was mainly characterized by cross linked single fibrils, cross linked fibril bundles or even both. Although the formation of fibril bundle usually induced large light scattering, such a polymer network could endure higher voltage. In contrast, although the formation of cross linked single fibrils induced small light scattering, such a polymer network cannot endure higher voltage. There is a tradeoff between the light scattering and high voltage endurance. The electro-optical properties such as threshold voltage and response time were taken to verify our conclusion. For future application, the monomer molecular structure, the liquid crystal solvent and the polymerization conditions should be optimized to generate optimal polymer network morphology.

Effect of anisotropic MoS2 nanoparticles on the blue phase range of a chiral liquid crystal.

PubMed

Lavrič, Marta; Cordoyiannis, George; Kralj, Samo; Tzitzios, Vassilios; Nounesis, George; Kutnjak, Zdravko

2013-08-01

Liquid-crystalline blue phases are attracting significant interest due to their potential for applications related to tunable photonic crystals and fast optical displays. In this work a brief theoretical model is presented accounting for the impact of anisotropic nanoparticles on the blue phase stability region. This model is tested by means of high-resolution calorimetric and optical measurements of the effect of anisotropic, surface-functionalized MoS2 nanoparticles on the blue phase range of a chiral liquid crystal. The addition of these nanoparticles effectively increases the temperature range of blue phases and especially the cubic structure of blue phase I.

Phase transition detection by surface photo charge effect in liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, O.; Petrov, M.; Naradikian, H.; Perez-Diaz, J. L.

2018-05-01

The surface photo charge effect (SPCE) was applied for the first time at structure and phase transitions study of hydrogen bonded in dimer liquid crystals (HBDLCs). Due to the high sensitivity of this method, besides first-order phase transitions, characteristic for the p,n-octyloxibenzoic acids (8OBA), an order transition was definitely detected within the nematic range. We state that the SPCE, arising at the solid-HBDLCs interface due to the double electrical layer, is invariably concomitant with solid surface-liquid interfaces, and indicates that the changes of the characteristics of this layer, under incident optical irradiation, induce surface charge rearrangement and alternating potential difference. A mechanism of induction of the SPCE at the interface of solid surface-anisotropic liquids is proposed. We also indicate that this mechanism can be adapted for solid surface-isotropic liquid interface, including colloids (milk) and fog (aerosols)-condensed medium.

Reverse-mode microdroplet liquid crystal display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Yao-Dong; Wu, Bao Gang; Xu, Gang

1990-04-01

This paper presents the production of the a reverse-mode microdroplet liquid crystal (RMLC) light shutter display. In this unit, the display is formed by a thin polymer film with dispersed liquid crystal microdroplets. The display is light transmissive in the absence of an applied electrical field. The display is converted to a non-transmissive state (i.e. absorbing or scattering) when an electrical field is applied. The "off' and "on" state. of this display are thus exactly opposite to that encountered in "normal-mode" microdroplet liquid crystal display devices such as polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC)15 or Nematic Curvilinear Aligned Phase (NCAP)6. The Reverse Mode Microdroplet Liquid Crystal is obtained by modification of the surface energy of the polymer which encases liquid crystals via reaction of a dopant incorporated inside of the microdroplet during the droplet formation within the inside polymer layer. The liquid crystal used in RMLC is of negative dielectric anisotropy.

Blue phase liquid crystal phase transition for cyano compound chiral nematic liquid crystal mixtures with three two-ring core structures and chiral dopant concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Jaesun; Kim, Beomjong; Jung, Wansu; Fahad, Mateen; Park, SangJin; Hong, Sung-Kyu

2017-05-01

Blue phase (BP) temperature range of a chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixture is dependent upon the host nematic LC chemical structure and chiral dopant concentration. In this study, we investigated BP phase transition behaviour and helical twisting power (HTP) using three chiral dopant concentrations of cyano compound chiral nematic LC mixtures incorporating three two-ring core structures in the host nematic LCs. The effect of the host nematic LC core structure, HTP and chiral dopant concentrations were considered on BP temperature ranges, for two types of complete BPI and BPII without isotropic phase (Iso) and two types of coexistence state of BPI+Iso and BPII+Iso.

Chiral organosilica particles and their use as inducers of conformational deracemization of liquid crystal phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, Orit; Ferris, Andrew J.; Adkins, Raymond; Lemieux, Robert P.; Avnir, David; Gelman, Dmitri; Rosenblatt, Charles

2018-03-01

Chiral organosilica particles of size ∼200 nm were synthesized from an enantio-pure multi-armed chiral D-maltose organosilane precursor in the absence of co-condensation with an achiral monomer. Two distinct experiments were performed to demonstrate the particles' ability to induce conformational deracemization of a host liquid crystal. The first involves an electric field-induced tilt of the liquid crystal director in the deracemized smectic-A phase. The other involves domain wall curvature separating left- and right-handed liquid crystal helical pitch domains imposed by the cells' substrates. The results demonstrate unequivocally that enantio-pure organosilica nanoparticles can be synthesized and can induce chirality in a host.

Liquid Crystals for Laser Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

336. Zei’dovich, B . Ya. and Tabiryan, N. V., Induced light scattering in the mesophase of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC), JETP Lett., 30, 478- 482 ...and devices. ADVANCES IN MATERIALS I Ferroelectric LC’s Ferroelectricity in liquid crystals was first suggested in 1974 by R. B . Meyer2 3 who, by means...most recently, 2 4 the M* phase. These tilted chiral smectic phases are classified according to the nature of the intermolecular I I packing within

Liquid Crystals of Dendron-Like Pt Complexes Processable Into Nanofilms Dendrimers. Phase 2. Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Glass Platinum Acetylides

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

Std. Z39.18 Final Report Liquid Crystals of Dendron-Like Pt Complexes Processable Into Nanofilms. Dendrimers Eduardo Arias...to pack and also the presence of a polar group. Figure 4. Summary of phase behavior. DENDRIMERS New Denrimers. The synthesis...purification and some spectral characteristics of the new dendrimers shown in Fig 5 were reported in AFOSR FA9550-11-1-0169, May, 2013. Further

Enhanced dual-frequency operation of a polymerized liquid crystal microplate by liquid crystal infiltration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumagai, Takayuki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Ozaki, Masanori

2017-04-01

The electric-field-induced switching behavior of a polymer microplate is investigated. A microplate fabricated with a photopolymerizable dual-frequency liquid crystal was surrounded by an unpolymerized photopolymerizable dual-frequency liquid crystal in the isotropic phase. As an electric field was applied along the plane of the microplate, the microplate switched to set its interior molecular orientation to be either parallel or perpendicular to the field, depending on the frequency. Analysis of the rotational behavior, as well as numerical calculations, showed that the surrounding unpolymerized photopolymerizable dual-frequency liquid crystal infiltrated into the microplate, which enhanced the dielectric properties of the microplate. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an enhanced dual-frequency dielectric response of a polymer microplate induced by liquid crystal infiltration.

Field-induced phase transitions in chiral smectic liquid crystals studied by the constant current method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

H, Dhaouadi; R, Zgueb; O, Riahi; F, Trabelsi; T, Othman

2016-05-01

In ferroelectric liquid crystals, phase transitions can be induced by an electric field. The current constant method allows these transition to be quickly localized and thus the (E,T) phase diagram of the studied product can be obtained. In this work, we make a slight modification to the measurement principles based on this method. This modification allows the characteristic parameters of ferroelectric liquid crystal to be quantitatively measured. The use of a current square signal highlights a phenomenon of ferroelectric hysteresis with remnant polarization at null field, which points out an effect of memory in this compound.

Controllable light diffraction in woodpile photonic crystals filled with liquid crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ho, Chih-Hua; Zeng, Hao; Wiersma, Diederik S.

2015-01-12

An approach to switching between different patterns of light beams transmitted through the woodpile photonic crystals filled with liquid crystals is proposed. The phase transition between the nematic and isotropic liquid crystal states leads to an observable variation of the spatial pattern transmitted through the photonic structure. The transmission profiles in the nematic phase also show polarization sensibility due to refractive index dependence on the field polarization. The experimental results are consistent with a numerical calculation by Finite Difference Time Domain method.

Field alignment of bent-core smectic liquid crystals for analog optical phase modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Y.; Goodhew, L.; Shao, R.; Moran, M.; Korblova, E.; Walba, D. M.; Clark, N. A.; Maclennan, J. E.; Rudquist, P.

2015-05-01

A general method for aligning bent-core smectic liquid crystal materials is described. Alternating electric fields between interdigitated electrodes patterned on one cell surface create torques on the liquid crystal that result in uniform "bookshelf" orientation of the smectic layers. The aligned cell can then be driven in the conventional way by applying an electric field between all of the stripe electrodes connected together and a monolithic electrode on the other cell surface. Fast, analog, optical phase-only modulation is demonstrated in a device containing a polar, bent-core SmAPF material aligned using this technique.

Directed self-assembly into low-density colloidal liquid crystal phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yongxiang; Romano, Flavio; Dullens, Roel P. A.; Doye, Jonathan K.; Aarts, Dirk G. A. L.

2018-01-01

Alignment of anisometric particles into liquid crystals (LCs) often results from an entropic competition between their rotational and translational degrees of freedom at dense packings. Here we show that by selectively functionalizing the heads of colloidal rods with magnetic nanoparticles this tendency can be broken to direct the particles into novel, low-density LC phases. Under an external magnetic field, the magnetic heads line up in columns whereas the nonmagnetic tails point out randomly in a plane perpendicular to the columns, forming bottle-brush-like objects; laterally, the bottle brushes are entropically stabilized against coalescence. Experiments and simulations show that upon increasing the particle density the system goes from a dilute gas to a dense two-dimensional liquid of bottle brushes with a density well below the zero-field nematic phase. Our findings offer a strategy for self-assembly into three-dimensional open phases that may find applications in switchable photonics, filtration, and light-weight materials.

Liquid-crystal projection image depixelization by spatial phase scrambling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiangyang; Jutamulia, Suganda; Li, Nan

1996-08-01

A technique that removes the pixel structure by scrambling the relative phases among multiple spatial spectra is described. Because of the pixel structure of the liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel, multiple spectra are generated at the Fourier-spectrum plane (usually at the back focal plane of the imaging lens). A transparent phase mask is placed at the Fourier-spectrum plane such that each spectral order is modulated by one of the subareas of the phase mask, and the phase delay resulting from each pair of subareas is longer than the coherent length of the light source, which is approximately 1 m for the wideband white light sources used in most of LCD s. Such a phase-scrambling technique eliminates the coherence between different spectral orders; therefore, the reconstructed images from the multiple spectra will superimpose incoherently, and the pixel structure will not be observed in the projection image.

Manipulating terahertz wave by a magnetically tunable liquid crystal phase grating.

PubMed

Lin, Chia-Jen; Li, Yu-Tai; Hsieh, Cho-Fan; Pan, Ru-Pin; Pan, Ci-Ling

2008-03-03

This investigation demonstrates the feasibility of a magnetically tunable liquid crystal phase grating for the terahertz wave. The phase grating can be used as a beam splitter. The ratio of the zeroth and first-order diffracted THz-beams (0.3 THz) polarized in a direction perpendicular to that of the grooves of the grating can be tuned from 4:1 to 1:2. When the THz wave is polarized in any other direction, this device can be operated as a polarizing beam splitter.

Multistable Phase-Retardation Plate Based on Gelator-Doped Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ying-Guey Fuh, Andy; Chiang, Jou-Ting; Chien, Yu-Shein; Chang, Chih-Juang; Lin, Hui-Chi

2012-07-01

This work demonstrates a multistable, large phase-retardation plate using gelator-doped liquid crystals (LCs). Multistability is achieved by forming a rubbery LC gel at room temperature. Experimentally, the phase retardation (PR) of an LC-gel film can be varied and fixed by the thermoreversible association and dissociation of the gelator molecules. The PR of the LC plate ranging from 0.3-3.7π can be electrically controllable within 10 V. Half-wave and quarter-wave LC plates were also produced at applied voltages of 3.5 and 6.3 V, respectively. Their properties were examined and found to be stable.

Multistable Phase-Retardation Plate Based on Gelator-Doped Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuh, Andy Ying-Guey; Chiang, Jou-Ting; Chien, Yu-Shein; Chang, Chih-Juang; Lin, Hui-Chi

2012-07-01

This work demonstrates a multistable, large phase-retardation plate using gelator-doped liquid crystals (LCs). Multistability is achieved by forming a rubbery LC gel at room temperature. Experimentally, the phase retardation (PR) of an LC-gel film can be varied and fixed by the thermoreversible association and dissociation of the gelator molecules. The PR of the LC plate ranging from 0.3--3.7π can be electrically controllable within 10 V. Half-wave and quarter-wave LC plates were also produced at applied voltages of 3.5 and 6.3 V, respectively. Their properties were examined and found to be stable.

Wave-aberration control with a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial phase modulator.

PubMed

Fernández, Enrique J; Prieto, Pedro M; Artal, Pablo

2009-06-22

Liquid crystal on Silicon (LCOS) spatial phase modulators offer enhanced possibilities for adaptive optics applications in terms of response velocity and fidelity. Unlike deformable mirrors, they present a capability for reproducing discontinuous phase profiles. This ability also allows an increase in the effective stroke of the device by means of phase wrapping. The latter is only limited by the diffraction related effects that become noticeable as the number of phase cycles increase. In this work we estimated the ranges of generation of the Zernike polynomials as a means for characterizing the performance of the device. Sets of images systematically degraded with the different Zernike polynomials generated using a LCOS phase modulator have been recorded and compared with their theoretical digital counterparts. For each Zernike mode, we have found that image degradation reaches a limit for a certain coefficient value; further increase in the aberration amount has no additional effect in image quality. This behavior is attributed to the intensification of the 0-order diffraction. These results have allowed determining the usable limits of the phase modulator virtually free from diffraction artifacts. The results are particularly important for visual simulation and ophthalmic testing applications, although they are equally interesting for any adaptive optics application with liquid crystal based devices.

Crystallization of belite–melilite clinker minerals in the presence of liquid phase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurokawa, Daisuke, E-mail: daisuke_kurokawa@taiheiyo-cement.co.jp; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555; Yoshida, Hideto

2014-06-01

Crystallization of belite–melilite clinker minerals was studied from the view point of a high temperature equilibrium. Ca{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}–Ca{sub 2}Al{sub 2}SiO{sub 7} and Ca{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}–Ca{sub 2}AlFeSiO{sub 7} clinkers were synthesized at 1330 °C–1650 °C. The constituent phases were determined by X-ray powder diffractometry and optical microscopy. Chemical compositions of the individual clinker minerals were determined using an electron probe microanalyzer. We established the two types of P{sub 2}O{sub 5}-bearing pseudobinary phase diagrams in the systems Ca{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}–Ca{sub 2}Al{sub 2}SiO{sub 7} at 1505 °C–1650 °C and Ca{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}–Ca{sub 2}(Al,Fe){sub 2}SiO{sub 7} at 1330 °C–1550 °C. In the lattermore » system, the liquid phase appeared at 1390 °C, which is approximately 150 °C lower than the temperature of liquid formation in the former system. The melilite phenocrysts larger than 50 μm were observed not only in the slowly cooled Ca{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}–Ca{sub 2}(Al,Fe){sub 2}SiO{sub 7} clinker but also in commercial belite–melilite clinkers. These crystals would be nucleated and grown from a liquid phase which was formed at relatively low temperatures.« less

Lasing in a three-dimensional photonic crystal of the liquid crystal blue phase II.

PubMed

Cao, Wenyi; Muñoz, Antonio; Palffy-Muhoray, Peter; Taheri, Bahman

2002-10-01

Photonic-bandgap materials, with periodicity in one, two or three dimensions, offer control of spontaneous emission and photon localization. Low-threshold lasing has been demonstrated in two-dimensional photonic-bandgap materials, both with distributed feedback and defect modes. Liquid crystals with chiral constituents exhibit mesophases with modulated ground states. Helical cholesterics are one-dimensional, whereas blue phases are three-dimensional self-assembled photonic-bandgap structures. Although mirrorless lasing was predicted and observed in one-dimensional helical cholesteric materials and chiral ferroelectric smectic materials, it is of great interest to probe light confinement in three dimensions. Here, we report the first observations of lasing in three-dimensional photonic crystals, in the cholesteric blue phase II. Our results show that distributed feedback is realized in three dimensions, resulting in almost diffraction-limited lasing with significantly lower thresholds than in one dimension. In addition to mirrorless lasing, these self-assembled soft photonic-bandgap materials may also be useful for waveguiding, switching and sensing applications.

Ferroelectric order in liquid crystal phases of polar disk-shaped ellipsoids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, Tushar Kanti; Saha, Jayashree

2014-05-01

The demonstration of a spontaneous macroscopic ferroelectric order in liquid phases in the absence of any long range positional order is considered an outstanding problem of both fundamental and technological interest. Recently, we reported that a system of polar achiral disklike ellipsoids can spontaneously exhibit a long searched ferroelectric nematic phase and a ferroelectric columnar phase with strong axial polarization. The major role is played by the dipolar interactions. The model system of interest consists of attractive-repulsive Gay-Berne oblate ellipsoids embedded with two parallel point dipoles positioned symmetrically on the equatorial plane of the ellipsoids. In the present work, we investigate in detail the profound effects of changing the separation between the two symmetrically placed dipoles and the strength of the dipoles upon the existence of different ferroelectric discotic liquid crystal phases via extensive off-lattice N-P-T Monte Carlo simulations. Ferroelectric biaxial phases are exhibited in addition to the uniaxial ferroelectric fluids where the phase biaxiality results from the dipolar interactions. The structures of all the ferroelectric configurations of interest are presented in detail. Simple phase diagrams are determined which include different polar and apolar discotic fluids generated by the system.

Mechanical and electro-optical properties of unconventional liquid crystal systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Guangxun

Four types of unconventional liquid crystal systems - amphotropic glycolipids; novel bent-core liquid crystals, bent-core liquid crystal and glycolipid mixtures, and colloidal crystal-liquid crystal systems - were studied and characterized by polarizing microscopy, electrical current, digital scanning calorimetry, and dielectric spectroscopy. Thermotropic properties of glycolipids show a number of unusual properties, most notably high (60-120) relative dielectric constants mainly proportional to the number of polar sugar heads. The relaxation of this dielectric mode is found to be governed by the hydrogen bonding between sugar heads. Studies on novel bent-core liquid crystals reveal a new optically isotropic ferroelectric phase, molecular chirality-induced polarity, and transitions between molecular chirality and polarity driven phases. Mixtures of several bent-core substances with nematic, polar SmA and SmC phases, and a simple amphiphilic sugar lipid with SmA mesophase found to obey the well known miscibility rules, i.e. the sugar lipid mixes best with the polar SmA bent-core material. In addition, the chiral sugar lipid was found to induce tilt to the non-tilted polar SmA phase, which represents a new direction among the chirality--polarity--tilt relations. The effects of the surface properties and electric fields were studied on various colloid particles--and liquid crystal systems. It is found that the surface properties (hydrophobicity, roughness, rubbing) of the substrates are important in determining the size and symmetry of colloidal crystals. The director field of the liquid crystal infiltrated in the colloid crystals can be rendered both random and uniform along one of the crystallographic axis. We present the first observations of DC electric-field-induced rotational and translational motion of finite particles in liquid crystals. The electrorotation is essentially identical to the well - known Quincke rotation, which in liquid crystals triggers an

Semiconductor liquid crystal composition and methods for making the same

DOEpatents

Alivisatos, A. Paul; Li, Liang-shi

2005-04-26

Semiconductor liquid crystal compositions and methods for making such compositions are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention is directed to a liquid crystal composition including a solvent and semiconductor particles in the solvent. The solvent and the semiconductor particles are in an effective amount in the liquid crystal composition to form a liquid crystal phase.

All-optical image processing with nonlinear liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Kuan-Lun

Liquid crystals are fascinating materials because of several advantages such as large optical birefringence, dielectric anisotropic, and easily compatible to most kinds of materials. Compared to the electro-optical properties of liquid crystals widely applied in displays and switching application, transparency through most parts of wavelengths also makes liquid crystals a better candidate for all-optical processing. The fast response time of liquid crystals resulting from multiple nonlinear effects, such as thermal and density effect can even make real-time processing realized. In addition, blue phase liquid crystals with spontaneously self-assembled three dimensional cubic structures attracted academic attention. In my dissertation, I will divide the whole contents into six parts. In Chapter 1, a brief introduction of liquid crystals is presented, including the current progress and the classification of liquid crystals. Anisotropy and laser induced director axis reorientation is presented in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, I will solve the electrostrictive coupled equation and analyze the laser induced thermal and density effect in both static and dynamic ways. Furthermore, a dynamic simulation of laser induced density fluctuation is proposed by applying finite element method. In Chapter 4, two image processing setups are presented. One is the intensity inversion experiment in which intensity dependent phase modulation is the mechanism. The other is the wavelength conversion experiment in which I can read the invisible image with a visible probe beam. Both experiments are accompanied with simulations to realize the matching between the theories and practical experiment results. In Chapter 5, optical properties of blue phase liquid crystals will be introduced and discussed. The results of grating diffractions and thermal refractive index gradient are presented in this chapter. In addition, fiber arrays imaging and switching with BPLCs will be included in this chapter

Chemical and biological sensing using liquid crystals

PubMed Central

Carlton, Rebecca J.; Hunter, Jacob T.; Miller, Daniel S.; Abbasi, Reza; Mushenheim, Peter C.; Tan, Lie Na; Abbott, Nicholas L.

2014-01-01

The liquid crystalline state of matter arises from orientation-dependent, non-covalent interaction between molecules within condensed phases. Because the balance of intermolecular forces that underlies formation of liquid crystals is delicate, this state of matter can, in general, be easily perturbed by external stimuli (such as an electric field in a display). In this review, we present an overview of recent efforts that have focused on exploiting the responsiveness of liquid crystals as the basis of chemical and biological sensors. In this application of liquid crystals, the challenge is to design liquid crystalline systems that undergo changes in organization when perturbed by targeted chemical and biological species of interest. The approaches described below revolve around the design of interfaces that selectively bind targeted species, thus leading to surface-driven changes in the organization of the liquid crystals. Because liquid crystals possess anisotropic optical and dielectric properties, a range of different methods can be used to read out the changes in organization of liquid crystals that are caused by targeted chemical and biological species. This review focuses on principles for liquid crystal-based sensors that provide an optical output. PMID:24795857

Key Developments in Ionic Liquid Crystals.

PubMed

Alvarez Fernandez, Alexandra; Kouwer, Paul H J

2016-05-16

Ionic liquid crystals are materials that combine the classes of liquid crystals and ionic liquids. The first one is based on the multi-billion-dollar flat panel display industry, whilst the latter quickly developed in the past decades into a family of highly-tunable non-volatile solvents. The combination yields materials with a unique set of properties, but also with many challenges ahead. In this review, we provide an overview of the key concepts in ionic liquid crystals, particularly from a molecular perspective. What are the important molecular parameters that determine the phase behavior? How should they be introduced into the molecules? Finally, which other tools does one have to realize specific properties in the material?

Key Developments in Ionic Liquid Crystals

PubMed Central

Alvarez Fernandez, Alexandra; Kouwer, Paul H. J.

2016-01-01

Ionic liquid crystals are materials that combine the classes of liquid crystals and ionic liquids. The first one is based on the multi-billion-dollar flat panel display industry, whilst the latter quickly developed in the past decades into a family of highly-tunable non-volatile solvents. The combination yields materials with a unique set of properties, but also with many challenges ahead. In this review, we provide an overview of the key concepts in ionic liquid crystals, particularly from a molecular perspective. What are the important molecular parameters that determine the phase behavior? How should they be introduced into the molecules? Finally, which other tools does one have to realize specific properties in the material? PMID:27196890

Electrorotation of colloidal particles in liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, G.; Smalyukh, I. I.; Kelly, J. R.; Lavrentovich, O. D.; Jákli, A.

2005-09-01

We present the first observations of dc electric-field-induced rotational motion of finite particles in liquid crystals. We show that the electrorotation is essentially identical to the well-known Quincke rotation, which in liquid crystals triggers an additional translational motion at higher fields. In the smectic phase the translational motion is confined to the two-dimensional geometry of smectic layers, in contrast to the isotropic and nematic phases, where the particles can move in all three dimensions. We demonstrate that by a proper analysis of the electrorotation, one can determine the in-plane viscosity of smectic liquid crystals. This method needs only a small amount of material, does not require uniform alignment over large areas, and enables probing rheological properties locally.

Field-induced refractive index variation in the dark conglomerate phase for polarization-independent switchable liquid crystal lenses.

PubMed

Milton, H E; Nagaraj, M; Kaur, S; Jones, J C; Morgan, P B; Gleeson, H F

2014-11-01

Liquid crystal lenses are an emerging technology that can provide variable focal power in response to applied voltage. Many designs for liquid-crystal-based lenses are polarization dependent, so that 50% of light is not focused as required, making polarization-independent technologies very attractive. Recently, the dark conglomerate (DC) phase, which is an optically isotropic liquid crystalline state, has been shown to exhibit a large change in refractive index in response to an applied electric field (Δn=0.04). This paper describes computational modeling of the electrostatic solutions for two different types of 100 μm diameter liquid crystal lenses, which include the DC phase, demonstrating that it shows great potential for efficient isotropic optical switching in lenses. A feature of the field dependence of the refractive index change in the DC phase is that it is approximately linear in a certain range, leading to the prediction of excellent optical quality for driving fields in this regime. Interestingly, a simulated microlens is shown to exhibit two modes of operation: a positive lens based upon a uniform bulk change in refractive index at high voltages, and a negative lens resulting from the induction of a gradient index effect at intermediate voltages.

Phase-field crystal simulation facet and branch crystal growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhi; Wang, Zhaoyang; Gu, Xinrui; Chen, Yufei; Hao, Limei; de Wit, Jos; Jin, Kexin

2018-05-01

Phase-field crystal model with one mode is introduced to describe morphological transition. The relationship between growth morphology and smooth density distribution was investigated. The results indicate that the pattern selection of dendrite growth is caused by the competition between interface energy anisotropy and interface kinetic anisotropy based on the 2D phase diagram. When the calculation time increases, the crystal grows to secondary dendrite at the dimensionless undercooling equal to - 0.4. Moreover, when noise is introduced in the growth progress, the symmetry is broken in the growth mode, and there becomes irregular fractal-like growth morphology. Furthermore, the single crystal shape develops into polycrystalline when the noise amplitude is large enough. When the dimensionless undercooling is less than - 0.3, the noise has a significant effect on the growth shape. In addition, the growth velocity of crystal near to liquid phase line is slow, while the shape far away from the liquid adapts to fast growth. Based on the simulation results, the method was proved to be effective, and it can easily obtain different crystal shapes by choosing the different points in 2D phase diagram.

Continuous Beam Steering From a Segmented Liquid Crystal Optical Phased Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Titus, Charles M.; Pouch, John; Nguyen, Hung; Miranda, Felix; Bos, Philip J.

2002-01-01

Optical communications to and from deep space probes will require beams possessing divergence on the order of a microradian, and must be steered with sub-microradian precision. Segmented liquid crystal spatial phase modulators, a type of optical phased array, are considered for this ultra-high resolution beam steering. It is shown here that in an ideal device of this type, there are ultimately no restrictions on the angular resolution. Computer simulations are used to obtain that result, and to analyze the influence of beam truncation and substrate flatness on the performance of this type of device.

Continuous Beam Steering From A Segmented Liquid Crystal Optical Phased Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pouch, John; Nguyen, Hung; Miranda, Felix; Titus, Charles M.; Bos, Philip J.

2002-01-01

Optical communications to and from deep space probes will require beams possessing divergence on the order of a microradian, and must be steered with sub-microradian precision. Segmented liquid crystal spatial phase modulators, a type of optical phased array, are considered for this ultra-high resolution beam steering. It is shown here that in an ideal device of this type, there are ultimately no restrictions on the angular resolution. Computer simulations are used to obtain that result, and to analyze the influence of beam truncation and substrate flatness on the performance of this type of device.

Submicrosecond electro-optic switching in the liquid-crystal smectic A phase: The soft-mode ferroelectric effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andersson, G.; Dahl, I.; Keller, P.; Kuczyński, W.; Lagerwall, S. T.; Skarp, K.; Stebler, B.

1987-08-01

A new liquid-crystal electro-optic modulating device similar to the surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid-crystal device is described. It uses the same kind of ferroelectric chiral smectics and the same geometry as that device (thin sample in the ``bookshelf '' layer arrangement) but instead of using a tilted smectic phase like the C* phase, it utilizes the above-lying, nonferroelectric A phase, taking advantage of the electroclinic effect. The achievable optical intensity modulation that can be detected through the full range of the A phase is considerably lower than for the surface-stabilized device, but the response is much faster. Furthermore, the response is strictly linear with respect to the applied electric field. The device concept is thus appropriate for modulator rather than for display applications. We describe the underlying physics and present measurements of induced tilt angle, of light modulation depth, and of rise time.

Cubic and Hexagonal Liquid Crystals as Drug Delivery Systems

PubMed Central

Chen, Yulin; Ma, Ping; Gui, Shuangying

2014-01-01

Lipids have been widely used as main constituents in various drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, and lipid-based lyotropic liquid crystals. Among them, lipid-based lyotropic liquid crystals have highly ordered, thermodynamically stable internal nanostructure, thereby offering the potential as a sustained drug release matrix. The intricate nanostructures of the cubic phase and hexagonal phase have been shown to provide diffusion controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients with a wide range of molecular weights and polarities. In addition, the biodegradable and biocompatible nature of lipids demonstrates the minimum toxicity and thus they are used for various routes of administration. Therefore, the research on lipid-based lyotropic liquid crystalline phases has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. This review will provide an overview of the lipids used to prepare cubic phase and hexagonal phase at physiological temperature, as well as the influencing factors on the phase transition of liquid crystals. In particular, the most current research progresses on cubic and hexagonal phases as drug delivery systems will be discussed. PMID:24995330

Synergistic promotion of polar phase crystallization of PVDF by ionic liquid with PEG segment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Pei; Fu, Weijia; Cui, Zhaopei; Ding, Yunsheng

2018-06-01

To investigate the effect of imidazolium ionic liquid with poly(ethylene glycol) segment (IL) on the polar phase crystallization behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), a series of PVDF/IL composites were prepared using solution-cast method. The crystallization peak temperature of PVDF composites and the growth speed of samples decrease with increasing of IL. The >CF2 groups in amorphous region are retained and >CF2 groups in crystalline region are liberated by the PEG long soft segments of IL. The intensity of peaks represented as α phase reduces, moreover polar phase content increases with increasing of IL. The interaction between the >CF2 and the imidazolium cation can induce the polar phase, and the interaction between the >CF2 and PEG soft segment can strengthen polar crystalline induction. PVDF/12IL composite can form big γ spherulite circled by β phase.

Solar radiation control using nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) liquid crystal technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

vanKonynenburg, Peter; Marsland, Stephen; McCoy, James

1987-11-01

A new, advanced liquid crystal technology has made economical, large area, electrically-controlled windows a commercial reality. The new technology, Nematic Curvilinear Aligned Phase (NCAP), is based on a polymeric material containing small droplets of nematic liquid crystal which is coated and laminated between transparent electrodes and fabricated into large area field effect devices. NCAP windows feature variable solar transmission and reflection through a voltage-controlled scattering mechanism. Laminated window constructions provide the excellent transmission and visibility of glass in the powered condition. In the unpowered condition, the windows are highly translucent, and provide 1) blocked vision for privacy, security, and obscuration of information, and 2) glare control and solar shading. The stability is excellent during accelerated aging tests. Degradation mechanisms which can limit performance and lifetime are discussed. Maximum long term stability is achieved by product designs that incorporate the appropriate window materials to provide environmental protection.

An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal

DOE PAGES

Li, Lin; Salamonczyk, Miroslaw; Shadpour, Sasan; ...

2018-02-19

Polymorphism is a remarkable concept in chemistry, materials science, computer science, and biology. Whether it is the ability of a material to exist in two or more crystal structures, a single interface connecting to two different entities, or alternative phenotypes of an organism, polymorphism determines function and properties. In materials science, polymorphism can be found in an impressively wide range of materials, including crystalline materials, minerals, metals, alloys, and polymers. Here in this paper we report on polymorphism in a liquid crystal. A bent-core liquid crystal with a single chiral side chain forms two structurally and morphologically significantly different liquidmore » crystal phases solely depending on the cooling rate from the isotropic liquid state. On slow cooling, the thermodynamically more stable oblique columnar phase forms, and on rapid cooling, a not heretofore reported helical microfilament phase. Since structure determines function and properties, the structural color for these phases also differs.« less

An unusual type of polymorphism in a liquid crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Lin; Salamonczyk, Miroslaw; Shadpour, Sasan

Polymorphism is a remarkable concept in chemistry, materials science, computer science, and biology. Whether it is the ability of a material to exist in two or more crystal structures, a single interface connecting to two different entities, or alternative phenotypes of an organism, polymorphism determines function and properties. In materials science, polymorphism can be found in an impressively wide range of materials, including crystalline materials, minerals, metals, alloys, and polymers. Here in this paper we report on polymorphism in a liquid crystal. A bent-core liquid crystal with a single chiral side chain forms two structurally and morphologically significantly different liquidmore » crystal phases solely depending on the cooling rate from the isotropic liquid state. On slow cooling, the thermodynamically more stable oblique columnar phase forms, and on rapid cooling, a not heretofore reported helical microfilament phase. Since structure determines function and properties, the structural color for these phases also differs.« less

Nanoparticles in liquid crystals, and liquid crystals in nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Pablo, Juan

2015-03-01

Liquid crystals are remarkably sensitive to interfacial interactions. Small perturbations at a liquid crystal interface, for example, can be propagated over relatively long length scales, thereby providing the basis for a wide range of applications that rely on amplification of molecular events into macroscopic observables. Our recent research efforts have focused on the reverse phenomenon; that is, we have sought to manipulate the interfacial assembly of nanoparticles or the organization of surface active molecules by controlling the structure of a liquid crystal. This presentation will consist of a review of the basic principles that are responsible for liquid crystal-mediated interactions, followed by demonstrations of those principles in the context of two types of systems. In the first, a liquid crystal is used to direct the assembly of nanoparticles; through a combination of molecular and continuum models, it is found that minute changes in interfacial energy and particle size lead to liquid-crystal induced attractions that can span multiple orders of magnitude. Theoretical predictions are confirmed by experimental observations, which also suggest that LC-mediated assembly provides an effective means for fabrication of plasmonic devices. In the second type of system, the structure of a liquid crystal is controlled by confinement in submicron droplets. The morphology of the liquid crystal in a drop depends on a delicate balance between bulk and interfacial contributions to the free energy; that balance can be easily perturbed by adsorption of analytes or nanoparticles at the interface, thereby providing the basis for development of hierarchical assembly of responsive, anisotropic materials. Theoretical predictions also indicate that the three-dimensional order of a liquid crystal can be projected onto a two-dimensional interface, and give rise to novel nanostructures that are not found in simple isotropic fluids.

Nanoparticle guests in lyotropic liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dölle, Sarah; Park, Ji Hyun; Schymura, Stefan; Jo, Hyeran; Scalia, Giusy; Lagerwall, Jan P. F.

In this chapter we discuss the benefits, peculiarities and main challenges related to nanoparticle templating in lyotropic liquid crystals. We first give a brief bird's-eye view of the field, discussing different nanoparticles as well as different lyotropic hosts that have been explored, but then quickly focus on the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in surfactant-based lyotropic nematic phases. We discuss in some detail how the transfer of orientational order from liquid crystal host to nanoparticle guest can be verified and which degree of ordering can be expected, as well as the importance of choosing the right surfactant and its concentration for the stability of the nanoparticle suspension. We introduce a method for dispersing nanoparticles with an absolute minimum of stabilizing surfactant, based on dispersion below the Krafft temperature, and we discuss the peculiar phenomenon of filament formation in lyotropic nematic phases with a sufficient concentration of well-dispersed carbon nanotubes. Finally, we describe how the total surfactant concentration in micellar nematics can be greatly reduced by combining cat- and anionic surfactants, and we discuss how nanotubes can help in inducing the liquid crystal phase close to the isotropic-nematic boundary.

Ice-Crystal Fallstreaks from Supercooled Liquid Water Parent Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, James R.; O'C. Starr, David; Welton, Ellsworth J.; Spinhirne, James D.; Ferrare, Richard A.

2003-01-01

On 31 December 2001, ice-crystal fallstreaks (e.g., cirrus uncinus, or colloquially "Mare's Tails") from supercooled liquid water parent clouds were observed by ground-based lidars pointed vertically from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains (SGP) facility near Lamont, Oklahoma. The incidence of liquid phase cloud with apparent ice-phase precipitation is investigated. Scenarios for mixed-phase particle nucleation, and fallstreak formation and sustenance are discussed. The observations are unique in the context of the historical reverence given to the commonly observed c h s uncinus fallstreak (wholly ice) versus this seemingly contradictory coincidence of liquid water begetting ice-crystal streaks.

Liquid Crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Thermochromic liquid crystals, or TLCs, are a type of liquid crystals that react to changes in temperature by changing color. The Hallcrest/NASA collaboration involved development of a new way to visualize boundary layer transition in flight and in wind tunnel testing of aircraft wing and body surfaces. TLCs offered a new and potentially better method of visualizing the boundary layer transition in flight. Hallcrest provided a liquid crystal formulation technique that afforded great control over the sensitivity of the liquid crystals to varying conditions. Method is of great use to industry, government and universities for aerodynamic and hydrodynamic testing. Company's principal line is temperature indicating devices for industrial use, such as non-destructive testing and flaw detection in electric/electronic systems, medical application, such as diagnostic systems, for retail sale, such as room, refrigerator, baby bath and aquarium thermometers, and for advertising and promotion specials. Additionally, Hallcrest manufactures TLC mixtures for cosmetic applications, and liquid crystal battery tester for Duracell batteries.

A phase-stepped point diffraction interferometer using liquid crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R.; Creath, Katherine; Rashidnia, Nasser

1995-01-01

A new instrument, the liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer (LCPDI), has been developed for the measurement of phase objects. This instrument maintains the compact, robust design of Linnik's point diffraction interferometer (PDI) and adds to it phase stepping capability for quantitative interferogram analysis. The result is a compact, simple to align, environmentally insensitive interferometer capable of accurately measuring optical wavefronts with high data density and with automated data reduction. The design of the LCPDI is briefly discussed. An algorithm is presented for eliminating phase measurement error caused by object beam intensity variation from frame-to-frame. The LCPDI is demonstrated by measuring the temperature distribution across a heated chamber filled with silicone oil. The measured results are compared to independently measured results and show excellent agreement with them. It is expected that this instrument will have application in the fluid sciences as a diagnostic tool, particularly in space based applications where autonomy, robustness, and compactness are desirable qualities. It should also be useful for the testing of optical elements, provided a master is available for comparison.

Polarization-independent refractive index tuning using gold nanoparticle-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals.

PubMed

Yabu, Shuhei; Tanaka, Yuma; Tagashira, Kenji; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Fujii, Akihiko; Kikuchi, Hirotsugu; Ozaki, Masanori

2011-09-15

Polarization-independent refractive index (RI) modulation can be achieved in blue phase (BP) liquid crystals (LCs) by applying an electric field parallel to the direction of light transmission. One of the problems limiting the achievable tuning range is the field-induced phase transition to the cholesteric phase, which is birefringent and chiral. Here we report the RI modulation capabilities of gold nanoparticle-doped BPs I and II, and we show that field-induced BP-cholesteric transition is suppressed in nanoparticle-doped BP II. Because the LC remains optically isotropic even at high applied voltages, a larger RI tuning range can be achieved.

Submillisecond-response and scattering-free infrared liquid crystal phase modulators.

PubMed

Sun, Jie; Chen, Yuan; Wu, Shin-Tson

2012-08-27

We demonstrate a submillisecond-response and scattering-free infrared phase modulator using a polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC). The required voltage for achieving 2π phase change at λ = 1.06 µm is 70V (or 5.8 V/μm) and the measured response time is ~200 µs at 25°C and 30 µs at 70°C. Opposite to our conventional understanding, a high viscosity LC helps to achieve small domain size during polymerization process, which in turn reduces the response time and light scattering. We use Rayleigh-Gans-Debye scattering model to analyze the voltage-on state transmission spectra. When the domain size is comparable to the wavelength, the model fits with experimental results well. But when the domain size is smaller than the wavelength, the simple Rayleigh model works well.

Low-Absorption Liquid Crystals for Infrared Beam Steering

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-22

Low absorption, MWIR, chlorinated liquid crystals, fluorination, FTIR, eutectic mixture, deuteration, nematic phase, birefringence, overtone...absorption compounds for LWIR and SWIR are also investigated. Key words: Low absorption, MWIR, chlorinated liquid crystals, fluorination, FTIR, eutectic ...the melting point significantly. We did careful investigation and formed a eutectic mixture consisting of five fluorinated compounds without any

Phase Behavior and Physical Properties of New Biobased Ionic Liquid Crystals.

PubMed

Toledo Hijo, Ariel A C; Maximo, Guilherme J; Costa, Mariana C; Cunha, Rosiane L; Pereira, Jorge F B; Kurnia, Kiki A; Batista, Eduardo A C; Meirelles, Antonio J A

2017-04-13

Protic ionic liquids (PILs) have emerged as promising compounds and attracted the interest of the industry and the academy community, due to their easy preparation and unique properties. In the context of green chemistry, the use of biocompounds, such as fatty acids, for their synthesis could disclose a possible alternative way to produce ILs with a low or nontoxic effect and, consequently, expanding their applicability in biobased processes or in the development of bioproducts. This work addressed efforts to a better comprehension of the complex solid-[liquid crystal]-liquid thermodynamic equilibrium of 20 new PILs synthesized by using fatty acids commonly found in vegetable oils, as well as their rheological profile and self-assembling ability. The work revealed that their phase equilibrium and physical properties are significantly impacted by the structure of the ions used for their synthesis. The use of unsaturated fatty acids and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium for the synthesis of these biobased ILs led to a drastic decreasing of their melting temperatures. Also, the longest alkyl chain fatty acids promoted higher self-assembling and more stable mesophases. Besides their sustainable appeal, the marked high viscosity, non-Newtonian profile, and very low critical micellar concentration values of the PIL crystals here disclosed make them interesting renewable compounds with potential applications as emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, or biolubricants.

Ultra-fast switching blue phase liquid crystals diffraction grating stabilized by chiral monomer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manda, Ramesh; Pagidi, Srinivas; Sarathi Bhattacharya, Surjya; Yoo, Hyesun; T, Arun Kumar; Lim, Young Jin; Lee, Seung Hee

2018-05-01

We have demonstrated an ultra-fast switching and efficient polymer stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) diffraction grating utilizing a chiral monomer. We have obtained a 0.5 ms response time by a novel polymer stabilization method which is three times faster than conventional PS-BPLC. In addition, the diffraction efficiency was improved 2% with a much wider phase range and the driving voltage to switch the device is reduced. The polarization properties of the diffracted beam are unaffected by this novel polymer stabilization. This device can be useful for future photonic applications.

Gelator-doped liquid-crystal phase grating with multistable and dynamic modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Hui-Chi; Yang, Meng-Ru; Tsai, Sheng-Feng; Yan, Shih-Chiang

2014-01-01

We demonstrate a gelator-doped nematic liquid-crystal (LC) phase grating, which can be operated in both the multistable mode and the dynamic mode. Thermoreversible association and dissociation of the gelator molecules can vary and fix the multistable diffraction efficiencies of the gratings. A voltage (V) can also be applied to modulate dynamically the diffraction efficiencies of the grating, which behaves as a conventional LC grating. Experimental results show that the variations of the diffraction efficiencies in the multistable and dynamic modes are similar. The maximum diffraction efficiency is approximately 30% at V = 2 V.

The role of disclinations on the organization and conductivity in liquid crystal nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez-Miranda, Luz J.; Romero-Hasler, P.; Meneses-Franco, A.; Soto-Bustamante, E. A.

The structure of TiO2 nanoparticles in a liquid crystal nanocomposite was found to be an oblique structure due to the alignment of the TiO2 with respect to the liquid crystals. This order is anisotropic due to the ordering of the liquid crystals. The particles are highly localized in the nanocomposite, which has consequences in the electrical percolation. We want to obtain an understanding of how the nanoparticles organize in this highly localized fashion. The nanoparticles and the liquid crystals phase separate, with the nanoparticles accumulating in the defects exhibited by the liquid crystal even after being sonicated initially. The liquid crystal is polymerized by the process of electropolymerization that takes place in the isotropic phase of the monomers. The nanoparticles are free to move away from the defects where they phase separate since the defects disappear in the isotropic. We believe the polymerization imposes a limitation in the movement of the nanoparticles. The combination of the accumulation in the disclinations, the polymerization in the isotropic and the formation of the liquid crystal unit side chains can affect the conductivity of the nanocomposite. NSF-OISE-1157589; Fondecyt Project 1130187; CONICYT scholarships 21130413 and 21090713.

The finite-size effect in thin liquid crystal systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śliwa, I.

2018-05-01

Effects of surface ordering in liquid crystal systems confined between cell plates are of great theoretical and experimental interest. Liquid crystals introduced in thin cells are known to be strongly stabilized and ordered by cell plates. We introduce a new theoretical method for analyzing the effect of surfaces on local molecular ordering in thin liquid crystal systems with planar geometry of the smectic layers. Our results show that, due to the interplay between pair long-range intermolecular forces and nonlocal, relatively short-range, surface interactions, both orientational and translational orders of liquid crystal molecules across confining cells are very complex. In particular, it is demonstrated that the SmA, nematic, and isotropic phases can coexist. The phase transitions from SmA to nematic, as well as from nematic to isotropic phases, occur not simultaneously in the whole volume of the system but begin to appear locally in some regions of the LC sample. Phase transition temperatures are demonstrated to be strongly affected by the thickness of the LC system. The dependence of the corresponding shifts of phase transition temperatures on the layer number is shown to exhibit a power law character. This new type of scaling behavior is concerned with the coexistence of local phases in finite systems. The influence of a specific character of interactions of molecules with surfaces and other molecules on values of the resulting critical exponents is also analyzed.

Graphene chiral liquid crystals and macroscopic assembled fibres

PubMed Central

Xu, Zhen; Gao, Chao

2011-01-01

Chirality and liquid crystals are both widely expressed in nature and biology. Helical assembly of mesophasic molecules and colloids may produce intriguing chiral liquid crystals. To date, chiral liquid crystals of 2D colloids have not been explored. As a typical 2D colloid, graphene is now receiving unprecedented attention. However, making macroscopic graphene fibres is hindered by the poor dispersibility of graphene and by the lack of an assembly method. Here we report that soluble, chemically oxidized graphene or graphene oxide sheets can form chiral liquid crystals in a twist-grain-boundary phase-like model with simultaneous lamellar ordering and long-range helical frustrations. Aqueous graphene oxide liquid crystals were continuously spun into metres of macroscopic graphene oxide fibres; subsequent chemical reduction gave the first macroscopic neat graphene fibres with high conductivity and good mechanical performance. The flexible, strong graphene fibres were knitted into designed patterns and into directionally conductive textiles. PMID:22146390

Thick strings, the liquid crystal blue phase, and cosmological large-scale structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luo, Xiaochun; Schramm, David N.

1992-01-01

A phenomenological model based on the liquid crystal blue phase is proposed as a model for a late-time cosmological phase transition. Topological defects, in particular thick strings and/or domain walls, are presented as seeds for structure formation. It is shown that the observed large-scale structure, including quasi-periodic wall structure, can be well fitted in the model without violating the microwave background isotropy bound or the limits from induced gravitational waves and the millisecond pulsar timing. Furthermore, such late-time transitions can produce objects such as quasars at high redshifts. The model appears to work with either cold or hot dark matter.

Electrically Tilted Liquid Crystal Display Mode for High Speed Operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gwag, Jin Seog; Kim, Jae Chang; Yoon, Tae-Hoon

2006-09-01

To develop liquid crystal displays suitable for moving picture, a liquid crystal display mode having an electrically tilted phase is proposed. This is realized by initially having a tilted liquid crystal with low bias voltage. We found that its measured response time is in good agreement with numerical calculation obtained using the Erickson-Leslie equation. The falling times were smaller than 10 ms with conventional driving and 6 ms with overdriving.

Microstructure and phase behavior in colloids and liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lohr, Matthew Alan

This thesis describes our investigation of microstructure and phase behavior in colloids and liquid crystals. The first set of experiments explores the phase behavior of helical packings of thermoresponsive microspheres inside glass capillaries as a function of volume fraction. Stable helical packings are observed with long-range orientational order. Some of these packings evolve abruptly to disordered states as the volume fraction is reduced. We quantify these transitions using correlation functions and susceptibilities of an orientational order parameter. The emergence of coexisting metastable packings, as well as coexisting ordered and disordered states, is also observed. These findings support the notion of phase-transition-like behavior in quasi-one-dimensional systems. The second set of experiments investigates cross-over behavior from glasses with attractive interactions to sparse gel-like states. In particular, the vibrational modes of quasi-two-dimensional disordered colloidal packings of hard colloidal spheres with short-range attractions are measured as a function of packing fraction. A crossover from glassy to sparse gel-like states is indicated by an excess of low-frequency phonon modes. This change in vibrational mode distribution appears to arise from highly localized vibrations that tend to involve individual and/or small clusters of particles with few local bonds. These mode behaviors and corresponding structural insights may serve as a useful signature for glass-gel transitions in wider classes of attractive packings. A third set of experiments explores the director structures of aqueous lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC) films created on square lattice cylindrical-micropost substrates. The structures are manipulated by modulating of the concentration-dependent elastic properties of LCLC s via drying. Nematic LCLC films exhibit preferred bistable alignment along the diagonals of the micropost lattice. Columnar LCLC films form two distinct

Dynamic Self-Stiffening in Liquid Crystal Elastomers

PubMed Central

Agrawal, Aditya; Chipara, Alin C.; Shamoo, Yousif; Patra, Prabir K.; Carey, Brent J.; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Chapman, Walter G.

2013-01-01

Biological tissues have the remarkable ability to remodel and repair in response to disease, injury, and mechanical stresses. Synthetic materials lack the complexity of biological tissues, and man-made materials which respond to external stresses through a permanent increase in stiffness are uncommon. Here, we report that polydomain nematic liquid crystal elastomers increase in stiffness by up to 90% when subjected to a low-amplitude (5%), repetitive (dynamic) compression. Elastomer stiffening is influenced by liquid crystal content, the presence of a nematic liquid crystal phase and the use of a dynamic as opposed to static deformation. Through rheological and X-ray diffraction measurements, stiffening can be attributed to a nematic director which rotates in response to dynamic compression. Stiffening under dynamic compression has not been previously observed in liquid crystal elastomers and may be useful for the development of self-healing materials or for the development of biocompatible, adaptive materials for tissue replacement. PMID:23612280

Observing in space and time the ephemeral nucleation of liquid-to-crystal phase transitions.

PubMed

Yoo, Byung-Kuk; Kwon, Oh-Hoon; Liu, Haihua; Tang, Jau; Zewail, Ahmed H

2015-10-19

The phase transition of crystalline ordering is a general phenomenon, but its evolution in space and time requires microscopic probes for visualization. Here we report direct imaging of the transformation of amorphous titanium dioxide nanofilm, from the liquid state, passing through the nucleation step and finally to the ordered crystal phase. Single-pulse transient diffraction profiles at different times provide the structural transformation and the specific degree of crystallinity (η) in the evolution process. It is found that the temporal behaviour of η exhibits unique 'two-step' dynamics, with a robust 'plateau' that extends over a microsecond; the rate constants vary by two orders of magnitude. Such behaviour reflects the presence of intermediate structure(s) that are the precursor of the ordered crystal state. Theoretically, we extend the well-known Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation, which describes the isothermal process with a stretched-exponential function, but here over the range of times covering the melt-to-crystal transformation.

Liquid crystal waveguides: new devices enabled by >1000 waves of optical phase control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Scott R.; Farca, George; Rommel, Scott D.; Johnson, Seth; Anderson, Michael H.

2010-02-01

A new electro-optic waveguide platform, which provides unprecedented voltage control over optical phase delays (> 2mm), with very low loss (< 0.5 dB/cm) and rapid response time (sub millisecond), will be presented. This technology, developed by Vescent Photonics, is based upon a unique liquid-crystal waveguide geometry, which exploits the tremendous electro-optic response of liquid crystals while circumventing their historic limitations. The waveguide geometry provides nematic relaxation speeds in the 10's of microseconds and LC scattering losses that are reduced by orders of magnitude from bulk transmissive LC optics. The exceedingly large optical phase delays accessible with this technology enable the design and construction of a new class of previously unrealizable photonic devices. Examples include: 2-D analog non-mechanical beamsteerers, chip-scale widely tunable lasers, chip-scale Fourier transform spectrometer (< 5 nm resolution demonstrated), widely tunable micro-ring resonators, tunable lenses, ultra-low power (< 5 microWatts) optical switches, true optical time delay devices for phased array antennas, and many more. All of these devices may benefit from established manufacturing technologies and ultimately may be as inexpensive as a calculator display. Furthermore, this new integrated photonic architecture has applications in a wide array of commercial and defense markets including: remote sensing, micro-LADAR, OCT, FSO, laser illumination, phased array radar, etc. Performance attributes of several example devices and application data will be presented. In particular, we will present a non-mechanical beamsteerer that steers light in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions.

Method for monitoring the crystallization of an organic material from a liquid

DOEpatents

Asay, Blaine W.; Henson, Bryan F.; Sander, Robert K.; Robinson, Jeanne M.; Son, Steven F.; Dickson, Peter M.

2004-10-05

Method for monitoring the crystallization of at least one organic material from a liquid. According to the method, a liquid having at least one organic material capable of existing in at least one non-centrosymmetric phase is prepared. The liquid is interrogated with a laser beam at a chosen wavelength. As at least a portion of the at least one organic material crystallizes from the liquid, the intensity of any light scattered by the crystallized material at a wavelength equal to one-half the chosen wavelength of the interrogating laser beam is monitored. If the intensity of this scattered light, increases, then the crystals that form include at least one non-cetrosymmetric phase.

High Birefringence Liquid Crystals for Laser Hardening and IR Countermeasure

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-24

A fast-switching and scattering-free phase modulator using polymer network liquid crystal ( PNLC ) is demonstrated at **=l.55 um for laser beam...steering application. The strong polymer network anchoring greatly reduces the visco-elastic coefficient of the liquid crystal. As a result, the PNLC

How ionic species structure influences phase structure and transitions from protic ionic liquids to liquid crystals to crystals.

PubMed

Greaves, Tamar L; Broomhall, Hayden; Weerawardena, Asoka; Osborne, Dale A; Canonge, Bastien A; Drummond, Calum J

2017-12-14

The phase behaviour of n-alkylammonium (C6 to C16) nitrates and formates has been characterised using synchrotron small angle and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), cross polarised optical microscopy (CPOM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The protic salts may exist as crystalline, liquid crystalline or ionic liquid materials depending on the alkyl chain length and temperature. n-Alkylammonium nitrates with n ≥ 6 form thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) lamellar phases, whereas n ≥ 8 was required for the formate series to form this LC phase. The protic ionic liquid phase showed an intermediate length scale nanostructure resulting from the segregation of the polar and nonpolar components of the ionic liquid. This segregation was enhanced for longer n-alkyl chains, with a corresponding increase in the correlation length scale. The crystalline and liquid crystalline phases were both lamellar. Phase transition temperatures, lamellar d-spacings, and liquid correlation lengths for the n-alkylammonium nitrates and formates were compared with those for n-alkylammonium chlorides and n-alkylamines. Plateau regions in the liquid crystalline to liquid phase transition temperatures as a function of n for the n-alkylammonium nitrates and formates are consistent with hydrogen-bonding and cation-anion interactions between the ionic species dominating alkyl chain-chain van der Waals interactions, with the exception of the mid chained hexyl- and heptylammonium formates. The d-spacings of the lamellar phases for both the n-alkylammonium nitrates and formates were consistent with an increase in chain-chain layer interdigitation within the bilayer-based lamellae with increasing alkyl chain length, and they were comparable to the n-alkylammonium chlorides.

Gelator-doped liquid-crystal phase grating with multistable and dynamic modes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Hui-Chi, E-mail: huichilin@nfu.edu.tw; Yang, Meng-Ru; Tsai, Sheng-Feng

2014-01-06

We demonstrate a gelator-doped nematic liquid-crystal (LC) phase grating, which can be operated in both the multistable mode and the dynamic mode. Thermoreversible association and dissociation of the gelator molecules can vary and fix the multistable diffraction efficiencies of the gratings. A voltage (V) can also be applied to modulate dynamically the diffraction efficiencies of the grating, which behaves as a conventional LC grating. Experimental results show that the variations of the diffraction efficiencies in the multistable and dynamic modes are similar. The maximum diffraction efficiency is approximately 30% at V = 2 V.

Liquid crystal alignment in electro-responsive nanostructured thermosetting materials based on block copolymer dispersed liquid crystal.

PubMed

Tercjak, A; Garcia, I; Mondragon, I

2008-07-09

Novel well-defined nanostructured thermosetting systems were prepared by modification of a diglicydylether of bisphenol-A epoxy resin (DGEBA) with 10 or 15 wt% amphiphilic poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) block copolymer (PSEO) and 30 or 40 wt% low molecular weight liquid crystal 4'-(hexyl)-4-biphenyl-carbonitrile (HBC) using m-xylylenediamine (MXDA) as a curing agent. The competition between well-defined nanostructured materials and the ability for alignment of the liquid crystal phase in the materials obtained has been studied by atomic and electrostatic force microscopy, AFM and EFM, respectively. Based on our knowledge, this is the first time that addition of an adequate amount (10 wt%) of a block copolymer to 40 wt% HBC-(DGEBA/MXDA) leads to a well-organized nanostructured thermosetting system (between a hexagonal and worm-like ordered structure), which is also electro-responsive with high rate contrast. This behavior was confirmed using electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), by means of the response of the HBC liquid crystal phase to the voltage applied to the EFM tip. In contrast, though materials containing 15 wt% PSEO and 30 wt% HBC also form a well-defined nanostructured thermosetting system, they do not show such a high contrast between the uncharged and charged surface.

Phase diagrams of orientational transitions in absorbing nematic liquid crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zolot’ko, A. S., E-mail: zolotko@lebedev.ru; Ochkin, V. N.; Smayev, M. P.

2015-05-15

A theory of orientational transitions in nematic liquid crystals (NLCs), which employs the expansion of optical torques acting on the NLC director with respect to the rotation angle, has been developed for NLCs with additives of conformationally active compounds under the action of optical and low-frequency electric and magnetic fields. Phase diagrams of NLCs are constructed as a function of the intensity and polarization of the light field, the strength of low-frequency electric field, and a parameter that characterizes the feedback between the rotation of the NLC director and optical torque. Conditions for the occurrence of first- and second-order transitionsmore » are determined. The proposed theory agrees with available experimental data.« less

Liquid-phase explosive crystallization of electron-beam-evaporated a-Si films induced by flash lamp annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohdaira, Keisuke; Matsumura, Hideki

2013-01-01

We succeed in the formation of micrometer-order-thick polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films through the flash-lamp-induced liquid-phase explosive crystallization (EC) of precursor a-Si films prepared by electron-beam (EB) evaporation. The velocity of the explosive crystallization (vEC) is estimated to be ˜14 m/s, which is close to the velocity of the liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) of Si at a temperature around the melting point of a-Si of 1418 K. Poly-Si films formed have micrometer-order-long grains stretched along a lateral crystallization direction, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction pattern measurements reveal that grains in poly-Si films tend to have a particular orientation. These features are significantly different from our previous results: the formation of poly-Si films containing randomly-oriented 10-nm-sized fine grains formed from a-Si films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) or sputtering. One possible reason for the emergence of a different EC mode in EB-evaporated a-Si films is the suppression of solid-phase nucleation (SPN) during Flash Lamp Annealing (FLA) due to tensile stress which precursor a-Si films originally hold. Poly-Si films formed from EB-evaporated a-Si films would contribute to the realization of high-efficiency thin-film poly-Si solar cells because of large and oriented grains.

Molecular reorientation of a nematic liquid crystal by thermal expansion

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Ki; Senyuk, Bohdan; Lavrentovich, Oleg D.

2012-01-01

A unique feature of nematic liquid crystals is orientational order of molecules that can be controlled by electromagnetic fields, surface modifications and pressure gradients. Here we demonstrate a new effect in which the orientation of nematic liquid crystal molecules is altered by thermal expansion. Thermal expansion (or contraction) causes the nematic liquid crystal to flow; the flow imposes a realigning torque on the nematic liquid crystal molecules and the optic axis. The optical and mechanical responses activated by a simple temperature change can be used in sensing, photonics, microfluidic, optofluidic and lab-on-a-chip applications as they do not require externally imposed gradients of temperature, pressure, surface realignment, nor electromagnetic fields. The effect has important ramifications for the current search of the biaxial nematic phase as the optical features of thermally induced structural changes in the uniaxial nematic liquid crystal mimic the features expected of the biaxial nematic liquid crystal. PMID:23072803

Hybrid molecular-colloidal liquid crystals.

PubMed

Mundoor, Haridas; Park, Sungoh; Senyuk, Bohdan; Wensink, Henricus H; Smalyukh, Ivan I

2018-05-18

Order and fluidity often coexist, with examples ranging from biological membranes to liquid crystals, but the symmetry of these soft-matter systems is typically higher than that of the constituent building blocks. We dispersed micrometer-long inorganic colloidal rods in a nematic liquid crystalline fluid of molecular rods. Both types of uniaxial building blocks, while freely diffusing, interact to form an orthorhombic nematic fluid, in which like-sized rods are roughly parallel to each other and the molecular ordering direction is orthogonal to that of colloidal rods. A coarse-grained model explains the experimental temperature-concentration phase diagram with one biaxial and two uniaxial nematic phases, as well as the orientational distributions of rods. Displaying properties of biaxial optical crystals, these hybrid molecular-colloidal fluids can be switched by electric and magnetic fields. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in two dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai; Liu, Ke; Slager, Robert-Jan; Nussinov, Zohar; Cvetkovic, Vladimir; Zaanen, Jan

2017-04-01

We present a self-contained review of the theory of dislocation-mediated quantum melting at zero temperature in two spatial dimensions. The theory describes the liquid-crystalline phases with spatial symmetries in between a quantum crystalline solid and an isotropic superfluid: quantum nematics and smectics. It is based on an Abelian-Higgs-type duality mapping of phonons onto gauge bosons (;stress photons;), which encode for the capacity of the crystal to propagate stresses. Dislocations and disclinations, the topological defects of the crystal, are sources for the gauge fields and the melting of the crystal can be understood as the proliferation (condensation) of these defects, giving rise to the Anderson-Higgs mechanism on the dual side. For the liquid crystal phases, the shear sector of the gauge bosons becomes massive signaling that shear rigidity is lost. After providing the necessary background knowledge, including the order parameter theory of two-dimensional quantum liquid crystals and the dual theory of stress gauge bosons in bosonic crystals, the theory of melting is developed step-by-step via the disorder theory of dislocation-mediated melting. Resting on symmetry principles, we derive the phenomenological imaginary time actions of quantum nematics and smectics and analyze the full spectrum of collective modes. The quantum nematic is a superfluid having a true rotational Goldstone mode due to rotational symmetry breaking, and the origin of this 'deconfined' mode is traced back to the crystalline phase. The two-dimensional quantum smectic turns out to be a dizzyingly anisotropic phase with the collective modes interpolating between the solid and nematic in a non-trivial way. We also consider electrically charged bosonic crystals and liquid crystals, and carefully analyze the electromagnetic response of the quantum liquid crystal phases. In particular, the quantum nematic is a real superconductor and shows the Meissner effect. Their special properties

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in two dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai

We present a self-contained review of the theory of dislocation-mediated quantum melting at zero temperature in two spatial dimensions. The theory describes the liquid-crystalline phases with spatial symmetries in between a quantum crystalline solid and an isotropic superfluid: quantum nematics and smectics. It is based on an Abelian-Higgs-type duality mapping of phonons onto gauge bosons (“stress photons”), which encode for the capacity of the crystal to propagate stresses. Dislocations and disclinations, the topological defects of the crystal, are sources for the gauge fields and the melting of the crystal can be understood as the proliferation (condensation) of these defects, givingmore » rise to the Anderson–Higgs mechanism on the dual side. For the liquid crystal phases, the shear sector of the gauge bosons becomes massive signaling that shear rigidity is lost. After providing the necessary background knowledge, including the order parameter theory of two-dimensional quantum liquid crystals and the dual theory of stress gauge bosons in bosonic crystals, the theory of melting is developed step-by-step via the disorder theory of dislocation-mediated melting. Resting on symmetry principles, we derive the phenomenological imaginary time actions of quantum nematics and smectics and analyze the full spectrum of collective modes. The quantum nematic is a superfluid having a true rotational Goldstone mode due to rotational symmetry breaking, and the origin of this ‘deconfined’ mode is traced back to the crystalline phase. The two-dimensional quantum smectic turns out to be a dizzyingly anisotropic phase with the collective modes interpolating between the solid and nematic in a non-trivial way. We also consider electrically charged bosonic crystals and liquid crystals, and carefully analyze the electromagnetic response of the quantum liquid crystal phases. In particular, the quantum nematic is a real superconductor and shows the Meissner effect. Furthermore

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in two dimensions

DOE PAGES

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai; ...

2017-04-18

We present a self-contained review of the theory of dislocation-mediated quantum melting at zero temperature in two spatial dimensions. The theory describes the liquid-crystalline phases with spatial symmetries in between a quantum crystalline solid and an isotropic superfluid: quantum nematics and smectics. It is based on an Abelian-Higgs-type duality mapping of phonons onto gauge bosons (“stress photons”), which encode for the capacity of the crystal to propagate stresses. Dislocations and disclinations, the topological defects of the crystal, are sources for the gauge fields and the melting of the crystal can be understood as the proliferation (condensation) of these defects, givingmore » rise to the Anderson–Higgs mechanism on the dual side. For the liquid crystal phases, the shear sector of the gauge bosons becomes massive signaling that shear rigidity is lost. After providing the necessary background knowledge, including the order parameter theory of two-dimensional quantum liquid crystals and the dual theory of stress gauge bosons in bosonic crystals, the theory of melting is developed step-by-step via the disorder theory of dislocation-mediated melting. Resting on symmetry principles, we derive the phenomenological imaginary time actions of quantum nematics and smectics and analyze the full spectrum of collective modes. The quantum nematic is a superfluid having a true rotational Goldstone mode due to rotational symmetry breaking, and the origin of this ‘deconfined’ mode is traced back to the crystalline phase. The two-dimensional quantum smectic turns out to be a dizzyingly anisotropic phase with the collective modes interpolating between the solid and nematic in a non-trivial way. We also consider electrically charged bosonic crystals and liquid crystals, and carefully analyze the electromagnetic response of the quantum liquid crystal phases. In particular, the quantum nematic is a real superconductor and shows the Meissner effect. Furthermore

Self-interferometric technique for visualization of phase patterns encoded onto a liquid-crystal display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bentley, Joel B.; Davis, Jeffrey A.; Albero, Jorge; Moreno, Ignacio

2006-10-01

We report a new self-interferometric technique for visualizing phase patterns that are encoded onto a phase-only liquid-crystal display (LCD). In our approach, the LCD generates both the desired object beam as well as the reference beam. Normally the phase patterns are encoded with a phase depth of 2π radians, and all of the incident energy is diffracted into the first-order beam. However, by reducing this phase depth, we can generate an additional zero-order diffracted beam, which acts as the reference beam. We work at distances such that these two patterns spatially interfere, producing an interference pattern that displays the encoded phase pattern. This approach was used recently to display the phase vortices of helical Ince-Gaussian beams. Here we show additional experimental results and analyze the process.

Young-Laplace equation for liquid crystal interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rey, Alejandro D.

2000-12-01

This letter uses the classical theories of liquid crystal physics to derive the Young-Laplace equation of capillary hydrostatics for interfaces between viscous isotropic (I) fluids and nematic liquid crystals (NLC's), and establishes the existence of four energy contributions to pressure jumps across these unusual anisotropic interfaces. It is shown that in addition to the usual curvature contribution, bulk and surface gradient elasticity, elastic stress, and anchoring energy contribute to pressure differentials across the interface. The magnitude of the effect is proportional to the elastic moduli of the NLC, and to the bulk and surface orientation gradients that may be present in the nematic phase. In contrast to the planar interface between isotropic fluids, flat liquid crystal interfaces support pressure jumps if elastic stresses, bulk and surface gradient energy, and/or anchoring energies are finite.

Theoretical Studies of Nonuniform Orientational Order in Liquid Crystals and Active Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duzgun, Ayhan

I investigate three systems that exhibit complex patterns in orientational order, which are controlled by geometry interacting with the dynamics of phase transitions, metastability, and activity. 1. Liquid Crystal Elastomers: Liquid-crystal elastomers are remarkable materials that combine the elastic properties of cross-linked polymer networks with the anisotropy of liquid crystals. Any distortion of the polymer network affects the nematic order of the liquid crystal, and, likewise, any change in the magnitude or direction of the nematic order influences the shape of the elastomer. When elastomers are prepared without any alignment, they develop disordered polydomain structures as they are cooled into the nematic phase. To model these polydomain structures, I develop a dynamic theory for the isotropic-nematic transition in elastomers. 2. Active Brownian Particles: Unlike equilibrium systems, active matter is not governed by the conventional laws of thermodynamics. I perform Langevin dynamics simulations and analytic calculations to explore how systems cross over from equilibrium to active behavior as the activity is increased. Based on these results, I calculate how the pressure depends on wall curvature, and hence make analytic predictions for the motion of curved tracers and other effects of confinement in active matter systems. 3. Skyrmions in Liquid Crystals: Skyrmions are localized topological defects in the orientation of an order parameter field, without a singularity in the magnitude of the field. For many years, such defects have been studied in the context of chiral liquid crystals--for example, as bubbles in a confined cholesteric phase or as double-twist tubes in a blue phase. More recently, skyrmions have been investigated extensively in the context of chiral magnets. In this project, I compare skyrmions in chiral liquid crystals with the analogous magnetic defects. Through simulations based on the nematic order tensor, I model both isolated skyrmions

Controlling the volatility of the written optical state in electrochromic DNA liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Kai; Varghese, Justin; Gerasimov, Jennifer Y.; Polyakov, Alexey O.; Shuai, Min; Su, Juanjuan; Chen, Dong; Zajaczkowski, Wojciech; Marcozzi, Alessio; Pisula, Wojciech; Noheda, Beatriz; Palstra, Thomas T. M.; Clark, Noel A.; Herrmann, Andreas

2016-05-01

Liquid crystals are widely used in displays for portable electronic information display. To broaden their scope for other applications like smart windows and tags, new material properties such as polarizer-free operation and tunable memory of a written state become important. Here, we describe an anhydrous nanoDNA-surfactant thermotropic liquid crystal system, which exhibits distinctive electrically controlled optical absorption, and temperature-dependent memory. In the liquid crystal isotropic phase, electric field-induced colouration and bleaching have a switching time of seconds. Upon transition to the smectic liquid crystal phase, optical memory of the written state is observed for many hours without applied voltage. The reorientation of the DNA-surfactant lamellar layers plays an important role in preventing colour decay. Thereby, the volatility of optoelectronic state can be controlled simply by changing the phase of the material. This research may pave the way for developing a new generation of DNA-based, phase-modulated, photoelectronic devices.

Phototropic liquid crystal materials containing naphthopyran dopants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumi, Mariacristina; Cazzell, Seth; Kosa, Tamas; Sukhomlinova, Ludmila; Taheri, Bahman; Bunning, Timothy; White, Timothy

2015-03-01

Dopant molecules dispersed in a liquid crystalline material usually affects the order of the system and the transition temperature between various phases. If the dopants undergo photoisomerization between conformers with different shapes, the interactions with the liquid crystal molecules can be different for the material in the dark and during exposure to light of appropriate wavelength. This can be used to achieve isothermal photoinduced phase transitions (phototropism). With proper selection of materials components, both order-to-disorder and disorder-to-order photoinduced transition have been demonstrated. Isothermal order-increasing transitions have been observed recently using naphthopyran derivatives as dopants. We are investigating the changes in order parameter and transition temperature of liquid crystal mixtures containing naphthopyrans and how they are related to exposure conditions and to the concentration and molecular structure of the dopants. We are also studying the nature of the photoinduced phase transitions, and comparing the behavior with that of azobenzene-doped mixtures, in which exposure to light leads to a decrease, instead of an increase, in the order of the system.

Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Assembled Liquid Crystals: "p"-Alkoxybenzoic Acids

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Jana; Grundy, Stephan C.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery; Hartley, C. Scott

2011-01-01

Thermotropic liquid crystal phases are ordered fluids found, for some molecules, at intermediate temperatures between the crystal and liquid states. Although technologically important, these materials typically receive little attention in the undergraduate curriculum. Here, we describe a laboratory activity for introductory organic chemistry…

Submillisecond-response polymer network liquid crystal phase modulators at 1.06-μm wavelength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jie; Xianyu, Haiqing; Chen, Yuan; Wu, Shin-Tson

2011-07-01

A fast-response and scattering-free polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) light modulator is demonstrated at λ = 1.06 μm wavelength. A decay time of 117 μs for 2π phase modulation is obtained at 70 °C, which is ˜ 650 × faster than that of the host nematic LCs. The major tradeoff is the increased operating voltage. Potential applications include spatial light modulators and adaptive optics.

Single crystal, liquid crystal, and hybrid organic semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twieg, Robert J.; Getmanenko, Y.; Lu, Z.; Semyonov, A. N.; Huang, S.; He, P.; Seed, A.; Kiryanov, A.; Ellman, B.; Nene, S.

2003-07-01

The synthesis and characterization of organic semiconductors is being pursued in three primary structure formats: single crystal, liquid crystal and organic-inorganic hybrid. The strategy here is to share common structures, synthesis methods and fabrication techniques across these formats and to utilize common characterization tools such as the time of flight technique. The single crystal efforts concentrate on aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds including simple benzene derivatives and derivatives of the acenes. The structure-property relationships due to incorporation of small substituents and heteroatoms are being examined. Crystals are grown by solution, melt or vapor transport techniques. The liquid crystal studies exploit their self-organizing properties and relative ease of sample preparation. Though calamitic systems tha deliver the largest mobilities are higher order smectics, even some unusual twist grain boundary phases are being studied. We are attempting to synthesize discotic acene derivatives with appropriate substitution patterns to render them mesogenic. The last format being examined is the hybrid organic-inorganic class. Here, layered materials of alternating organic and inorganic composition are designed and synthesized. Typical materials are conjugated aromatic compounds, usually functinalized with an amine or a pyridine and reacted with appropriate reactive metal derivatives to incorporate them into metal oxide or sulfide layers.

A second-generation liquid crystal phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometer employing structured substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, Kenneth L.; Adlesberger, Kathleen; Kolodzie, Benjamin; Myhre, Graham; Griffin, DeVon W.

2005-08-01

By design, point-diffraction interferometers are much less sensitive to environmental disturbances than dual-path interferometers, but, until very recently, have not been capable of phase shifting. The liquid crystal point-diffraction interferometer (LCPDI) utilizes a dye-doped, liquid crystal (LC) electro-optical device that functions as both the point-diffraction source and the phase-shifting element, yielding a phase-shifting diagnostic device that is significantly more compact and robust while using fewer optical elements than conventional dual-path interferometers. These attributes make the LCPDI of special interest for diagnostic applications in the scientific, commercial, military, and industrial sectors, where vibration insensitivity, power requirements, size, weight, and cost are critical issues. Until very recently, LCPDI devices have used a plastic microsphere embedded in the LC fluid layer as the point-diffraction source. The process for fabricating microsphere-based LCPDI devices is low-yield, labor-intensive, and very "hands-on" great care and skill are required to produce devices with adequate interference fringe contrast for diagnostic measurements. With the goal of evolving the LCPDI beyond the level of a laboratory prototype in mind, we have developed "second-generation" LCPDI devices in which the reference-diffracting elements are an integral part of the substrates by depositing a suitable optical material (vapor-deposited thin films or photoresist) directly onto the substrate surface. These "structured" substrates eliminate many of the assembly difficulties and performance limitations of current LCPDI devices as well as open the possibility of mass-producing LCPDI devices at low cost by the same processes used to manufacture commercial LC displays.

Ultrasound liquid crystal lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Yuki; Koyama, Daisuke; Fukui, Marina; Emoto, Akira; Nakamura, Kentaro; Matsukawa, Mami

2018-04-01

A variable-focus lens using a combination of liquid crystals and ultrasound is discussed. The lens uses a technique based on ultrasound vibration to control the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The lens structure is simple, with no mechanical moving parts and no transparent electrodes, which is helpful for device downsizing; the structure consists of a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between two glass substrates with a piezoelectric ring. The tens-of-kHz ultrasonic resonance flexural vibration used to excite the lens generates an acoustic radiation force on the liquid crystal layer to induce changes in the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal. The orientations of the liquid crystal molecules and the optical characteristics of the lens were investigated under ultrasound excitation. Clear optical images were observed through the lens, and the focal point could be controlled using the input voltage to the piezoelectric ring to give the lens its variable-focus action.

Electrochemical liquid-liquid-solid (ec-LLS) crystal growth: a low-temperature strategy for covalent semiconductor crystal growth.

PubMed

Fahrenkrug, Eli; Maldonado, Stephen

2015-07-21

This Account describes a new electrochemical synthetic strategy for direct growth of crystalline covalent group IV and III-V semiconductor materials at or near ambient temperature conditions. This strategy, which we call "electrochemical liquid-liquid-solid" (ec-LLS) crystal growth, marries the semiconductor solvation properties of liquid metal melts with the utility and simplicity of conventional electrodeposition. A low-temperature liquid metal (i.e., Hg, Ga, or alloy thereof) acts simultaneously as the source of electrons for the heterogeneous reduction of oxidized semiconductor precursors dissolved in an electrolyte as well as the solvent for dissolution of the zero-valent semiconductor. Supersaturation of the semiconductor in the liquid metal triggers eventual crystal nucleation and growth. In this way, the liquid electrolyte-liquid metal-solid crystal phase boundary strongly influences crystal growth. As a synthetic strategy, ec-LLS has several intrinsic features that are attractive for preparing covalent semiconductor crystals. First, ec-LLS does not require high temperatures, toxic precursors, or high-energy-density semiconductor reagents. This largely simplifies equipment complexity and expense. In practice, ec-LLS can be performed with only a beaker filled with electrolyte and an electrical circuit capable of supplying a defined current (e.g., a battery in series with a resistor). By this same token, ec-LLS is compatible with thermally and chemically sensitive substrates (e.g., plastics) that cannot be used as deposition substrates in conventional syntheses of covalent semiconductors. Second, ec-LLS affords control over a host of crystal shapes and sizes through simple changes in common experimental parameters. As described in detail herein, large and small semiconductor crystals can be grown both homogeneously within a liquid metal electrode and heterogeneously at the interface of a liquid metal electrode and a seed substrate, depending on the particular

Confinement effects on lyotropic nematic liquid crystal phases of graphene oxide dispersions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Zangana, Shakhawan; Iliut, Maria; Turner, Michael; Vijayaraghavan, Aravind; Dierking, Ingo

2017-12-01

Graphene oxide (GO) forms well ordered liquid crystal (LC) phases in polar solvents. Here, we map the lyotropic phase diagram of GO as a function of the lateral dimensions of the GO flakes, their concentration, geometrical confinement configuration and solvent polarity. GO flakes were prepared in water and transferred into other polar solvents. Polarising optical microscopy (POM) was used to determine the phase evolution through the isotropic-biphasic-nematic transitions of the GO LC. We report that the confinement volume and geometry relative to the particle size is critical for the observation of the lyotropic phase, specifically, this determines the low-end concentration limit for the detection of the GO LC. Additionally, a solvent with higher polarisability stabilises the LC phases at lower concentrations and smaller flake sizes. GO LCs have been proposed for a range of applications from display technologies to conductive fibres, and the behaviour of LC phase formation under confinement imposes a limit on miniaturisation of the dimensions of such GO LC systems which could significantly impact on their potential applications.

Structure and Dynamics of Freely Suspended Liquid Crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, Noel A.

2004-01-01

Smectic liquid crystals are phases of rod shaped molecules organized into one dimensionally (1 D) periodic arrays of layers, each layer being between one and two molecular lengths thick. In the least ordered smectic phases, the smectics A and C, each layer is a two dimensional (2D) liquid. Additionally there are a variety of more ordered smectic phases having hexatic short range translational order or 2D crystalline or quasi long range translational order within the layers. The inherent fluid-layer structure and low vapor pressure of smectic liquid crystals enables the long term stabilization of freely suspended, single component, layered fluid films as thin as 30A, a single molecular layer. The layering forces the films to be an integral number of smectic layers thick, quantizing their thickness in layer units and forcing a film of a particular number of layers to be physically homogeneous with respect to its layer structure over its entire area. Optical reflectivity enables the precise determination of the number of layers. These ultrathin freely suspended liquid crystal films are structures of fundamental interest in condensed matter and fluid physics. They are the thinnest known stable fluid structures and have the largest surface-to-volume ratio of any stable fluid preparation, making them ideal for the study of the effects of reduced dimensionality on phase behavior and on fluctuation and interface phenomena. Their low vapor pressure and quantized thickness enable the effective use of microgravity to extend the study of basic capillary phenomena to ultrathin fluid films. Freely suspended films have been a wellspring of new LC physics. They have been used to provide unique experimental conditions for the study of condensed phase transitions in two dimensions. They are the only system in which the hexatic has been unambiguously identified as a phase of matter, and the only physical system in which fluctuations of a 2D XY system and Kosterlitz Thouless phase

Liquid phase heteroepitaxial growth on convex substrate using binary phase field crystal model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yanli; Zhang, Tinghui; Chen, Zheng

2018-06-01

The liquid phase heteroepitaxial growth on convex substrate is investigated with the binary phase field crystal (PFC) model. The paper aims to focus on the transformation of the morphology of epitaxial films on convex substrate with two different radiuses of curvature (Ω) as well as influences of substrate vicinal angles on films growth. It is found that films growth experience different stages on convex substrate with different radiuses of curvature (Ω). For Ω = 512 Δx , the process of epitaxial film growth includes four stages: island coupled with layer-by-layer growth, layer-by-layer growth, island coupled with layer-by-layer growth, layer-by-layer growth. For Ω = 1024 Δx , film growth only experience islands growth and layer-by-layer growth. Also, substrate vicinal angle (π) is an important parameter for epitaxial film growth. We find the film can grow well when π = 2° for Ω = 512 Δx , while the optimized film can be obtained when π = 4° for Ω = 512 Δx .

Liquid-crystal panel with microdots on an electrode used to modulate optical phase profiles.

PubMed

Kishima, Koichiro; Yoshida, Naoko; Osato, Kiyoshi; Nakagawa, Nobuyoshi

2006-05-20

The optical characteristics of a liquid-crystal (LC) panel with microdots on an electrode are investigated. Although 3 mum is larger than 1 molecule of LC material, microdots with a 3 microm diameter are sufficiently small to produce a smooth index profile. We use an electrode patterned in a new way to modulate the index profile of the LC panel, which allows us to modulate the optical phase of the passing light.

Demonstrations of Some Optical Properties of Liquid Crystals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicastro, Anthony J.

1983-01-01

Discusses several properties of liquid crystal displays. Includes instructions for demonstrating liquid crystalline phase, ordering of the long axes of molecules along one direction, and electro-optic effects. The latter is accomplished with the use of an overhead projector following preparation of a sandwich cell. (JN)

Label-free protein sensing by employing blue phase liquid crystal.

PubMed

Lee, Mon-Juan; Chang, Chung-Huan; Lee, Wei

2017-03-01

Blue phases (BPs) are mesophases existing between the isotropic and chiral nematic phases of liquid crystals (LCs). In recent years, blue phase LCs (BPLCs) have been extensively studied in the field of LC science and display technology. However, the application of BPLCs in biosensing has not been explored. In this study, a BPLC-based biosensing technology was developed for the detection and quantitation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The sensing platform was constructed by assembling an empty cell with two glass slides coated with homeotropic alignment layers and with immobilized BSA atop. The LC cells were heated to isotropic phase and then allowed to cool down to and maintained at distinct BP temperatures for spectral measurements and texture observations. At BSA concentrations below 10 -6 g/ml, we observed that the Bragg reflection wavelength blue-shifted with increasing concentration of BSA, suggesting that the BP is a potentially sensitive medium in the detection and quantitation of biomolecules. By using the BPLC at 37 °C and the same polymorphic material in the smectic A phase at 20 °C, two linear correlations were established for logarithmic BSA concentrations ranging from 10 -9 to 10 -6 g/ml and from 10 -6 to 10 -3 g/ml. Our results demonstrate the potential of BPLCs in biosensing and quantitative analysis of biomolecules.

Electron paramagnetic resonance study of alinement induced by magnetic fields in two smectic-A liquid crystals not exhibiting nematic phases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fryburg, G. C.; Gelerinter, E.

1972-01-01

Using vanadyl acetylacetonate (VAAC) as a paramagnetic probe, the molecular ordering in two smectic-A liquid crystals that do not display nematic phases were studied. Reproducible alinement was attained by slow cooling throughout the isotropic smectic-A transition in dc magnetic fields of 1.1 and 2.15 teslas. The degree of order attained is small for a smectic-A liquid crystal. Measurements were made of the variation of the average hyperfine splitting of the alined samples as a function of orientation relative to the dc magnetic field of the spectrometer. This functional dependence is in agreement with the theoretical prediction except where the viscosity of the liquid crystal becomes large enough to slow the tumbling of the VAAC, as indicated by asymmetry in the end lines of the spectrum.

Fabrication of tensile-strained single-crystalline GeSn on transparent substrate by nucleation-controlled liquid-phase crystallization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oka, Hiroshi; Amamoto, Takashi; Koyama, Masahiro; Imai, Yasuhiko; Kimura, Shigeru; Hosoi, Takuji; Shimura, Takayoshi; Watanabe, Heiji

2017-01-01

We developed a method of forming single-crystalline germanium-tin (GeSn) alloy on transparent substrates that is based on liquid-phase crystallization. By controlling and designing nucleation during the melting growth process, a highly tensile-strained single-crystalline GeSn layer was grown on a quartz substrate without using any crystal-seeds or catalysts. The peak field-effect hole mobility of 423 cm2/V s was obtained for a top-gate single-crystalline GeSn MOSFET on a quartz substrate with a Sn content of 2.6%, indicating excellent crystal quality and mobility enhancement due to Sn incorporation and tensile strain.

Dynamic and magneto-optic properties of bent-core liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salili, Seyyed Muhammad

In this work, we describe dynamic behavior of free-standing bent-core liquid crystal filaments under dilative and axial compressive stresses in the B7 phase. We found that such filaments demonstrate very complex structures depending on the filament's temperature relative to the isotropic phase, initial filament thickness, and velocity at which the filament is pulled or compressed. We also present our experimental methods, results and analysis of the rupture and recoil properties of several bent-core liquid crystal filaments, anticipating that they may serve as a model system for complex biological fibers. After that, we systematically describe rheological measurements for dimeric liquid crystal compounds. We studied the shear-induced alignment properties, measured the viscoelastic properties as a function of temperature, shear rate, stress and frequency, and compared the results with the rheological properties of conventional chiral nematic and smectic phases. Then we present results of chiral nematic liquid crystals composed of flexible dimer molecules subject to large DC magnetic fields between 0 and 31T. We observe that these fields lead to selective reflection of light depending on temperature and magnetic field. The band of reflected wavelengths can be tuned from ultraviolet to beyond the IR-C band. A similar effect induced by electric fields has been presented previously, and was explained by a field-induced oblique-heliconical director deformation in accordance with early theoretical predictions. Finally, we report an unprecedented magnetic field-induced shifts of the isotropic-nematic phase transition temperature observed in liquid crystal dimers where two rigid linear mesogens are linked by flexible chains of either even- or odd-numbered hydrocarbon groups. This effect is explained in terms of quenching of the thermal fluctuations and decrease of the average bend angle of molecules in the odd-numbered dimers.

Characterising laser beams with liquid crystal displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dudley, Angela; Naidoo, Darryl; Forbes, Andrew

2016-02-01

We show how one can determine the various properties of light, from the modal content of laser beams to decoding the information stored in optical fields carrying orbital angular momentum, by performing a modal decomposition. Although the modal decomposition of light has been known for a long time, applied mostly to pattern recognition, we illustrate how this technique can be implemented with the use of liquid-crystal displays. We show experimentally how liquid crystal displays can be used to infer the intensity, phase, wavefront, Poynting vector, and orbital angular momentum density of unknown optical fields. This measurement technique makes use of a single spatial light modulator (liquid crystal display), a Fourier transforming lens and detector (CCD or photo-diode). Such a diagnostic tool is extremely relevant to the real-time analysis of solid-state and fibre laser systems as well as mode division multiplexing as an emerging technology in optical communication.

Liquid crystals in micron-scale droplets, shells and fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urbanski, Martin; Reyes, Catherine G.; Noh, JungHyun; Sharma, Anshul; Geng, Yong; Subba Rao Jampani, Venkata; Lagerwall, Jan P. F.

2017-04-01

The extraordinary responsiveness and large diversity of self-assembled structures of liquid crystals are well documented and they have been extensively used in devices like displays. For long, this application route strongly influenced academic research, which frequently focused on the performance of liquid crystals in display-like geometries, typically between flat, rigid substrates of glass or similar solids. Today a new trend is clearly visible, where liquid crystals confined within curved, often soft and flexible, interfaces are in focus. Innovation in microfluidic technology has opened for high-throughput production of liquid crystal droplets or shells with exquisite monodispersity, and modern characterization methods allow detailed analysis of complex director arrangements. The introduction of electrospinning in liquid crystal research has enabled encapsulation in optically transparent polymeric cylinders with very small radius, allowing studies of confinement effects that were not easily accessible before. It also opened the prospect of functionalizing textile fibers with liquid crystals in the core, triggering activities that target wearable devices with true textile form factor for seamless integration in clothing. Together, these developments have brought issues center stage that might previously have been considered esoteric, like the interaction of topological defects on spherical surfaces, saddle-splay curvature-induced spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, or the non-trivial shape changes of curved liquid crystal elastomers with non-uniform director fields that undergo a phase transition to an isotropic state. The new research thrusts are motivated equally by the intriguing soft matter physics showcased by liquid crystals in these unconventional geometries, and by the many novel application opportunities that arise when we can reproducibly manufacture these systems on a commercial scale. This review attempts to summarize the current understanding of

Wide-view transflective liquid crystal display for mobile applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyang Yul; Ge, Zhibing; Wu, Shin-Tson; Lee, Seung Hee

2007-12-01

A high optical efficiency and wide-view transflective liquid crystal display based on fringe-field switching structure is proposed. The transmissive part has a homogenous liquid crystal (LC) alignment and is driven by a fringe electric field, which exhibits excellent electro-optic characteristics. The reflective part has a hybrid LC alignment with quarter-wave phase retardation and is also driven by a fringe electric field. Consequently, the transmissive and reflective parts have similar gamma curves.

Liquid crystals for organic thin-film transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iino, Hiroaki; Usui, Takayuki; Hanna, Jun-Ichi

2015-04-01

Crystalline thin films of organic semiconductors are a good candidate for field effect transistor (FET) materials in printed electronics. However, there are currently two main problems, which are associated with inhomogeneity and poor thermal durability of these films. Here we report that liquid crystalline materials exhibiting a highly ordered liquid crystal phase of smectic E (SmE) can solve both these problems. We design a SmE liquid crystalline material, 2-decyl-7-phenyl-[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (Ph-BTBT-10), for FETs and synthesize it. This material provides uniform and molecularly flat polycrystalline thin films reproducibly when SmE precursor thin films are crystallized, and also exhibits high durability of films up to 200 °C. In addition, the mobility of FETs is dramatically enhanced by about one order of magnitude (over 10 cm2 V-1 s-1) after thermal annealing at 120 °C in bottom-gate-bottom-contact FETs. We anticipate the use of SmE liquid crystals in solution-processed FETs may help overcome upcoming difficulties with novel technologies for printed electronics.

Bio-recognition and detection using liquid crystals.

PubMed

Hussain, A; Pina, A S; Roque, A C A

2009-09-15

Liquid crystals (LCs) are used extensively by the electronics industry as display devices. Advances in the understanding of the liquid crystalline phase and the chemistry therein lead to the development of LC exhibiting faster switching speed with greater twist angle. This in turn lead to the emergence of liquid crystal displays, rendering dial-and-needle based displays (such as those used in various meters) and cathode ray tubes obsolete. In this article, we review the history of LC and their emergence as an invaluable material for display devices and the more recent discovery of their use as sensing elements in biosensors. This new application of LC as tools in the development of fast and simple biosensors is envisaged to gain more importance in the foreseeable future.

Solid-liquid surface tensions of critical nuclei and nucleation barriers from a phase-field-crystal study of a model binary alloy using finite system sizes.

PubMed

Choudhary, Muhammad Ajmal; Kundin, Julia; Emmerich, Heike; Oettel, Martin

2014-08-01

Phase-field-crystal (PFC) modeling has emerged as a computationally efficient tool to address crystal growth phenomena on atomistic length and diffusive time scales. We use a two-dimensional phase-field-crystal model for a binary system based on Elder et al. [Phys. Rev. B 75, 064107 (2007)] to study critical nuclei and their liquid-solid phase boundaries, in particular the nucleus size dependence of the liquid-solid interface tension as well as of the nucleation barrier. Critical nuclei are stabilized in finite systems of various sizes, however, the extracted interface tension as function of the nucleus radius r is independent of system size. We suggest a phenomenological expression to describe the dependence of the extracted interface tension on the nucleus radius r for the liquid-solid system. Moreover, the numerical PFC results show that this dependency can not be fully described by the nonclassical Tolman formula.

Effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on dielectric behavior of nematic liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Amit; Kumar, Pankaj; Malik, Praveen

2018-05-01

In this work, phase transition and dielectric behavior of nematic liquid crystal (NLC), E7 and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) doped nematic liquid crystals are investigated. Effect of nano-particles dispersion is analyzed and compared with the dielectric behavior of E7 and E7-ZnO. Frequency dependent dielectric permittivity at various temperatures in nematic phase for E7 and E7-ZnO sample is also studied.

Liquid Crystal Colloids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2018-03-01

Colloids are abundant in nature, science, and technology, with examples ranging from milk to quantum dots and the colloidal atom paradigm. Similarly, liquid crystal ordering is important in contexts ranging from biological membranes to laboratory models of cosmic strings and liquid crystal displays in consumer devices. Some of the most exciting recent developments in both of these soft matter fields emerge at their interface, in the fast-growing research arena of liquid crystal colloids. Mesoscale self-assembly in such systems may lead to artificial materials and to structures with emergent physical behavior arising from patterning of molecular order and nano- or microparticles into precisely controlled configurations. Liquid crystal colloids show exceptional promise for new discovery that may impinge on composite material fabrication, low-dimensional topology, photonics, and so on. Starting from physical underpinnings, I review the state of the art in this fast-growing field, with a focus on its scientific and technological potential.

Experimental study of strong nonlinear-optics effects in liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darbin, S. D.; Arakelyan, S. M.; Cheung, M. M.; Shen, Y. R.

1984-07-01

Nonlinear optical effects that arise in nematic liquid crystals as a result of a change in the index of refraction induced by a laser field are considered. Since the resultant nonlinearity is extremely high, the approximation of perturbation theory cannot be used in calculations. However, the change in refractive index results mainly in phase advance as waves propagate through a thin film of liquid crystal, while the change of intensity is significant. Moreover, if there is no change in polarization of the pumping field, calculations are relatively simple. An investigation is made of the propagation of a cross sectionally bounded laser beam through a homeotropically oriented liquid crystal, giving rise to spatial phase modulation of emission. When the intensity of the laser beam exceeds a certain value, a system of aberation rings is observed in the output radiation. Effects of dynamic self-diffraction accompanying degenerate four-wave mixing when a change in refractive index is induced in a homeotropic liquid crystal film, and optical bistability in a nonlinear Fabry-Perot optical cavity, as well as generation of a self-oscillatory state in such a resonator are discussed.

Flow properties of liquid crystal phases of the Gay-Berne fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarman, Sten

1998-05-01

We have calculated the viscosities of a variant of the Gay-Berne fluid as a function of the temperature by performing molecular dynamics simulations. We have evaluated the Green-Kubo relations for the various viscosity coefficients. The results have been cross-checked by performing shear flow simulations. At high temperatures there is a nematic phase that is transformed to a smectic A phase as the temperature is decreased. The nematic phase is found to be flow stable. Close to the nematic-smectic transition point the liquid crystal model system becomes flow unstable. This is in agreement with the theoretical predictions by Jähnig and Brochard [F. Jähnig and F. Brochard, J. Phys. 35, 301 (1974)]. In a planar Couette flow one can define the three Miesowicz viscosities or effective viscosities η1, η2, and η3. The coefficient η1 is the viscosity when the director is parallel to the streamlines, η2 is the viscosity when the director is perpendicular to the shear plane, and η3 is the viscosity when the director is perpendicular to the vorticity plane. In the smectic phase η1 is undefined because the strain rate field is incommensurate with the smectic layer structure when the director is parallel to the streamlines. The viscosity η3 is found to be fairly independent of the temperature. The coefficient η2 increases with the temperature. This is unusual because the viscosity of most isotropic liquids decreases with the temperature. This anomaly is due to the smectic layer structure that is present at low temperatures. This lowers the friction because the layers can slide past each other fairly easily.

High Resolution Displays Using NCAP Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macknick, A. Brian; Jones, Phil; White, Larry

1989-07-01

Nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) liquid crystals have been found useful for high information content video displays. NCAP materials are liquid crystals which have been encapsulated in a polymer matrix and which have a light transmission which is variable with applied electric fields. Because NCAP materials do not require polarizers, their on-state transmission is substantially better than twisted nematic cells. All dimensional tolerances are locked in during the encapsulation process and hence there are no critical sealing or spacing issues. By controlling the polymer/liquid crystal morphology, switching speeds of NCAP materials have been significantly improved over twisted nematic systems. Recent work has combined active matrix addressing with NCAP materials. Active matrices, such as thin film transistors, have given displays of high resolution. The paper will discuss the advantages of NCAP materials specifically designed for operation at video rates on transistor arrays; applications for both backlit and projection displays will be discussed.

Preparation and blood compatibility of polysiloxane/liquid-crystal composite membranes.

PubMed

Li, L; Tu, M; Mou, S; Zhou, C

2001-10-01

Polysiloxane/liquid crystal composite membrane was first suggested to be used as biomaterials. In this work, the polydimethyl-methylhydrosiloxane and polydimethyl-methylethylenesilosiane, as a substrate, were blended with cholesteryl oleyl carbonate (COC) in tetrahydrofuran, and then crosslinked into membranes on glass plates by means of the platinum catalyst at 110 degrees C for 20 min. The effects of the liquid-crystal content in composite membranes on the formation of liquid-crystal phase were verified by the observation of optical polarization microscopy. The relationship between the morphology of the composite membranes and blood compatibility was identified by the dynamic blood-clotting tests, haemolysis ratio measurement, platelet adhesion and SEM observation. The results show that the blood-compatibility of composite membranes with the concentration of liquid crystal 20, 30% (wt) is more excellent than that of other composite membranes.

Optical studies of blue phase III, twist-bend and bent-core nematic liquid crystals in high magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Challa, Pavan Kumar

This dissertation is mainly divided into three parts. First, the dynamic light scattering measurements on both calamitic and bent-core nematic liquid crystals, carried out in the new split-helix resistive magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee is discussed. In a nematic liquid crystal the molecules tend to be aligned along a constant direction, labeled by a unit vector (or "director") n. However, there are fluctuations from this average configuration. These fluctuations are very large for long wavelengths and give rise to a strong scattering of light. The magnetic field reduces the fluctuations of liquid crystal director n. Scattered light was detected at each scattering angle ranging from 0° to 40°. The relaxation rate and inverse scattered intensity of director fluctuations exhibit a linear dependence on field-squared up to 25 Tesla. We also observe evidence of field dependence of certain nematic material parameters. In the second part of the dissertation, magneto-optical measurements on two liquid crystals that exhibit a wide temperature-range amorphous blue phase (BPIII) are discussed. Blue phase III is one of the phases that occur between chiral nematic and isotropic liquid phases. Samples were illuminated with light from blue laser; the incident polarization direction of the light was parallel to the magnetic field. The transmitted light was passed through another polarizer oriented at 90° with respect to the first polarizer and was detected by a photo-detector. Magnetic fields up to 25Tesla are found to suppress the onset of BPIII in both materials by almost 1 degree celcius. This effect appears to increase non-linearly with the field strength. The effect of high fields on established BPIII's is also discussed, in which we find significant hysteresis and very slow dynamics. Possible explanations of these results are discussed. In the third part of the dissertation, magneto-optic measurements on two odd-numbered dimer molecules

Influence of Hydrogen Bond on Thermal and Phase Transitions of Binary Complex Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijayakumar, V. N.; Rajasekaran, T. R.; Baskar, K.

2017-12-01

A novel supramolecular liquid crystal (LC) is synthesized from the binary complex of 4-decyloxy benzoic acid and cholesteryl acetate. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic study confirms the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bond between the mesogens. Various mesophases and corresponding textural changes in the complex are observed by comparing with its constituents through polarizing optical microscopic (POM) studies. The thermal stability factor of smectic phase for present complex is calculated. An interesting observation of present work is that investigation of extended thermal span of mesomorphic phases, decreased enthalpy, a nematic phase with a high clearing point and a low melting point. This is due to an arrangement of molecular reorientations and the development of new associations by hydrogen bonding. Optical tilt angle for smectic C phase is determined and the same is fitted to a power law.

Bubble migration in a compacting crystal-liquid mush

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boudreau, Alan

2016-04-01

Recent theoretical models have suggested that bubbles are unlikely to undergo significant migration in a compaction crystal mush by capillary invasion while the system remains partly molten. To test this, experiments of bubble migration during compaction in a crystal-liquid mush were modeled using deformable foam crystals in corn syrup in a volumetric burette, compacted with rods of varying weights. A bubble source was provided by sodium bicarbonate (Alka-Seltzer®). Large bubbles (>several crystal sizes) are pinched by the compacting matrix and become overpressured and deformed as the bubbles experience a load change from hydrostatic to lithostatic. Once they begin to move, they move much faster than the compaction-driven liquid. Bubbles that are about the same size as the crystals but larger than the narrower pore throats move by deformation or breaking into smaller bubbles as they are forced through pore restrictions. Bubbles that are less than the typical pore diameter generally move with the liquid: The liquid + bubble mixture behaves as a single phase with a lower density than the bubble-free liquid, and as a consequence it rises faster than bubble-free liquid and allows for faster compaction. The overpressure required to force a bubble through the matrix (max grain size = 5 mm) is modest, about 5 %, and it is estimated that for a grain size of 1 mm, the required overpressure would be about 25 %. Using apatite distribution in a Stillwater olivine gabbro as an analog for bubble nucleation and growth, it is suggested that relatively large bubbles initially nucleate and grow in liquid-rich channels that develop late in the compaction history. Overpressure from compaction allows bubbles to rise higher into hotter parts of the crystal pile, where they redissolve and increase the volatile content of the liquid over what it would have without the bubble migration, leading to progressively earlier vapor saturation during crystallization of the interstitial liquid

SPECIAL ISSUE ON OPTICAL PROCESSING OF INFORMATION: Characteristics of surface-plasmon liquid-crystal light modulators operating under phase modulation conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazvanov, V. F.; Afonin, O. A.; Grebennikov, A. I.

1995-10-01

Electrically and optically controlled liquid-crystal light modulators based on surface plasmons were developed and investigated in an ellipsometric optical system. The characteristics of these modulators were determined and compared under phase and amplitude modulation conditions.

Defect topologies in chiral liquid crystals confined to mesoscopic channels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schlotthauer, Sergej, E-mail: s.schlotthauer@mailbox.tu-berlin.de; Skutnik, Robert A.; Stieger, Tillmann

2015-05-21

We present Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical and canonical ensembles of a chiral liquid crystal confined to mesochannels of variable sizes and geometries. The mesochannels are taken to be quasi-infinite in one dimension but finite in the two other directions. Under thermodynamic conditions chosen and for a selected value of the chirality coupling constant, the bulk liquid crystal exhibits structural characteristics of a blue phase II. This is established through the tetrahedral symmetry of disclination lines and the characteristic simple-cubic arrangement of double-twist helices formed by the liquid-crystal molecules along all three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system.more » If the blue phase II is then exposed to confinement, the interplay between its helical structure, various anchoring conditions at the walls of the mesochannels, and the shape of the mesochannels gives rise to a broad variety of novel, qualitative disclination-line structures that are reported here for the first time.« less

Atomic density functional and diagram of structures in the phase field crystal model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ankudinov, V. E., E-mail: vladimir@ankudinov.org; Galenko, P. K.; Kropotin, N. V.

2016-02-15

The phase field crystal model provides a continual description of the atomic density over the diffusion time of reactions. We consider a homogeneous structure (liquid) and a perfect periodic crystal, which are constructed from the one-mode approximation of the phase field crystal model. A diagram of 2D structures is constructed from the analytic solutions of the model using atomic density functionals. The diagram predicts equilibrium atomic configurations for transitions from the metastable state and includes the domains of existence of homogeneous, triangular, and striped structures corresponding to a liquid, a body-centered cubic crystal, and a longitudinal cross section of cylindricalmore » tubes. The method developed here is employed for constructing the diagram for the homogeneous liquid phase and the body-centered iron lattice. The expression for the free energy is derived analytically from density functional theory. The specific features of approximating the phase field crystal model are compared with the approximations and conclusions of the weak crystallization and 2D melting theories.« less

Pressure sensor using liquid crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parmar, Devendra S. (Inventor); Holmes, Harlan K. (Inventor)

1994-01-01

A pressure sensor includes a liquid crystal positioned between transparent, electrically conductive films (18 and 20), that are biased by a voltage (V) which induces an electric field (E) that causes the liquid crystal to assume a first state of orientation. Application of pressure (P) to a flexible, transparent film (24) causes the conductive film (20) to move closer to or farther from the conductive film (18), thereby causing a change in the electric field (E'(P)) which causes the liquid crystal to assume a second state of orientation. Polarized light (P.sub.1) is directed into the liquid crystal and transmitted or reflected to an analyzer (A or 30). Changes in the state of orientation of the liquid crystal induced by applied pressure (P) result in a different light intensity being detected at the analyzer (A or 30) as a function of the applied pressure (P). In particular embodiments, the liquid crystal is present as droplets (10) in a polymer matrix (12) or in cells (14) in a polymeric or dielectric grid (16) material in the form of a layer (13) between the electrically conductive films (18 and 20). The liquid crystal fills the open wells in the polymer matrix (12) or grid (16) only partially.

Liquid crystals for organic thin-film transistors

PubMed Central

Iino, Hiroaki; Usui, Takayuki; Hanna, Jun-ichi

2015-01-01

Crystalline thin films of organic semiconductors are a good candidate for field effect transistor (FET) materials in printed electronics. However, there are currently two main problems, which are associated with inhomogeneity and poor thermal durability of these films. Here we report that liquid crystalline materials exhibiting a highly ordered liquid crystal phase of smectic E (SmE) can solve both these problems. We design a SmE liquid crystalline material, 2-decyl-7-phenyl-[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (Ph-BTBT-10), for FETs and synthesize it. This material provides uniform and molecularly flat polycrystalline thin films reproducibly when SmE precursor thin films are crystallized, and also exhibits high durability of films up to 200 °C. In addition, the mobility of FETs is dramatically enhanced by about one order of magnitude (over 10 cm2 V−1 s−1) after thermal annealing at 120 °C in bottom-gate-bottom-contact FETs. We anticipate the use of SmE liquid crystals in solution-processed FETs may help overcome upcoming difficulties with novel technologies for printed electronics. PMID:25857435

Liquid crystals for organic thin-film transistors.

PubMed

Iino, Hiroaki; Usui, Takayuki; Hanna, Jun-ichi

2015-04-10

Crystalline thin films of organic semiconductors are a good candidate for field effect transistor (FET) materials in printed electronics. However, there are currently two main problems, which are associated with inhomogeneity and poor thermal durability of these films. Here we report that liquid crystalline materials exhibiting a highly ordered liquid crystal phase of smectic E (SmE) can solve both these problems. We design a SmE liquid crystalline material, 2-decyl-7-phenyl-[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (Ph-BTBT-10), for FETs and synthesize it. This material provides uniform and molecularly flat polycrystalline thin films reproducibly when SmE precursor thin films are crystallized, and also exhibits high durability of films up to 200 °C. In addition, the mobility of FETs is dramatically enhanced by about one order of magnitude (over 10 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) after thermal annealing at 120 °C in bottom-gate-bottom-contact FETs. We anticipate the use of SmE liquid crystals in solution-processed FETs may help overcome upcoming difficulties with novel technologies for printed electronics.

Structural analysis of benzothienobenzothiophene-based soluble organic semiconducting crystals grown by liquid crystal solvent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibata, Yosei; Matsuzaki, Tomoya; Ishinabe, Takahiro; Fujikake, Hideo

2018-06-01

In this study, we analyzed organic semiconducting single crystals composed of benzothienobenzothiophene derivatives (2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene, C8-BTBT) grown by nematic-phase liquid crystal (LC) solvent. As a result, we clarified that the crystal b-axis direction of the C8-BTBT single crystals was consistent with the LC alignment direction. By optical evaluation and simulation based on density functional theory, we found that the C8-BTBT single crystals in LC solvent exhibited a novel molecular conformation having alkyl chains oriented toward the b-axis.

Crystalline liquids: the blue phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, David C.; Mermin, N. David

1989-04-01

The blue phases of cholesteric liquid crystals are liquids that exhibit orientational order characterized by crystallographic space-group symmetries. We present here a pedagogical introduction to the current understanding of the equilibrium structure of these phases accompanied by a general overview of major experimental results. Using the Ginzburg-Landau free energy appropriate to the system, we first discuss in detail the character and stability of the usual helical phase of cholesterics, showing that for certain parameter ranges the helical phase is unstable to the appearance of one or more blue phases. The two principal models for the blue phases are two limiting cases of the Ginzburg-Landau theory. We explore each limit and conclude with some general considerations of defects in both models and an exact minimization of the free energy in a curved three-dimensional space.

Synthesis and carbon-13 NMR studies of liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hong

2000-08-01

The orientation of different segments of 4'-cyanophenyl 4-heptylbenzoate (7CPB) has been investigated using 13C NMR. The method of proton encoded local field (PELF) spectroscopy was used in combination with off-magic-angle spinning (OMAS) of the sample. High-resolution 2D spectra were obtained and the order parameters were calculated from the spectra. Linear relationships between the obtained order parameters and anisotropic chemical shifts determined by 1D 13C NMR were established and semi-empirical parameters were obtained. A 1:2 mixture of 7CPB and its chain-perfluorinated analog (7PFCPB) shows interesting phase behavior with changing of temperature. The mixture was studied by the use of 13C NMR and polarizing optical microscopy. The order parameters of 7CPB in the smectic A phase of the mixture were calculated using the semi-empirical parameters obtained by the 2D NMR method. Eight series of liquid crystals containing an electron- donating group at one end of a conjugated system and an electron-withdrawing group at the other end have been synthesized. The electron-donating group is 4- n-alkylpiperazinyl group, the electron- withdrawing group is nitro group and the conjugated system is diphenyldiazene with zero, one or two substituents on the phenyl rings. The substituents are -F, -Cl, and -CH3. Two series of compounds with cyano group as electron-withdrawing group were also synthesized. Most of the compounds synthesized are nematogenic and exhibit rather broad liquid crystalline ranges. The effects of the lateral substituents on the optical absorption and phase transition temperatures are correlated with their nature and position of substitution. Birefringence, dielectric anisotropy, elastic constant ratio and rise time of the liquid crystals were carried out using 10 wt% LC mixtures in E7. It has been found that lateral substituents have subtle effects on the properties. The presence of lateral substituents depresses melting points and clearing points of the

Real-time observation of the isothermal crystallization kinetics in a deeply supercooled liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanatta, M.; Cormier, L.; Hennet, L.; Petrillo, C.; Sacchetti, F.

2017-03-01

Below the melting temperature Tm, crystals are the stable phase of typical elemental or molecular systems. However, cooling down a liquid below Tm, crystallization is anything but inevitable. The liquid can be supercooled, eventually forming a glass below the glass transition temperature Tg. Despite their long lifetimes and the presence of strong barriers that produces an apparent stability, supercooled liquids and glasses remain intrinsically a metastable state and thermodynamically unstable towards the crystal. Here we investigated the isothermal crystallization kinetics of the prototypical strong glassformer GeO2 in the deep supercooled liquid at 1100 K, about half-way between Tm and Tg. The crystallization process has been observed through time-resolved neutron diffraction for about three days. Data show a continuous reorganization of the amorphous structure towards the alpha-quartz phase with the final material composed by crystalline domains plunged into a low-density, residual amorphous matrix. A quantitative analysis of the diffraction patterns allows determining the time evolution of the relative fractions of crystal and amorphous, that was interpreted through an empirical model for the crystallization kinetics. This approach provides a very good description of the experimental data and identifies a predator-prey-like mechanism between crystal and amorphous, where the density variation acts as a blocking barrier.

Modeling liquid crystal polymeric devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gimenez Pinto, Vianney Karina

The main focus of this work is the theoretical and numerical study of materials that combine liquid crystal and polymer. Liquid crystal elastomers are polymeric materials that exhibit both the ordered properties of the liquid crystals and the elastic properties of rubbers. Changing the order of the liquid crystal molecules within the polymer network can induce shape change. These materials are very valuable for applications such as actuators, sensors, artificial muscles, haptic displays, etc. In this work we apply finite element elastodynamics simulations to study the temperature induced shape deformation in nematic elastomers with complex director microstructure. In another topic, we propose a novel numerical method to model the director dynamics and microstructural evolution of three dimensional nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals. Numerical studies presented in this work are in agreement with experimental observations and provide insight into the design of application devices.

Glass and liquid phase diagram of a polyamorphic monatomic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reisman, Shaina; Giovambattista, Nicolas

2013-02-01

We perform out-of-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a monatomic system with Fermi-Jagla (FJ) pair potential interactions. This model system exhibits polyamorphism both in the liquid and glass state. The two liquids, low-density (LDL) and high-density liquid (HDL), are accessible in equilibrium MD simulations and can form two glasses, low-density (LDA) and high-density amorphous (HDA) solid, upon isobaric cooling. The FJ model exhibits many of the anomalous properties observed in water and other polyamorphic liquids and thus, it is an excellent model system to explore qualitatively the thermodynamic properties of such substances. The liquid phase behavior of the FJ model system has been previously characterized. In this work, we focus on the glass behavior of the FJ system. Specifically, we perform systematic isothermal compression and decompression simulations of LDA and HDA at different temperatures and determine "phase diagrams" for the glass state; these phase diagrams varying with the compression/decompression rate used. We obtain the LDA-to-HDA and HDA-to-LDA transition pressure loci, PLDA-HDA(T) and PHDA-LDA(T), respectively. In addition, the compression-induced amorphization line, at which the low-pressure crystal (LPC) transforms to HDA, PLPC-HDA(T), is determined. As originally proposed by Poole et al. [Phys. Rev. E 48, 4605 (1993)], 10.1103/PhysRevE.48.4605 simulations suggest that the PLDA-HDA(T) and PHDA-LDA(T) loci are extensions of the LDL-to-HDL and HDL-to-LDL spinodal lines into the glass domain. Interestingly, our simulations indicate that the PLPC-HDA(T) locus is an extension, into the glass domain, of the LPC metastability limit relative to the liquid. We discuss the effects of compression/decompression rates on the behavior of the PLDA-HDA(T), PHDA-LDA(T), PLPC-HDA(T) loci. The competition between glass polyamorphism and crystallization is also addressed. At our "fast rate," crystallization can be partially suppressed and the

Glass and liquid phase diagram of a polyamorphic monatomic system.

PubMed

Reisman, Shaina; Giovambattista, Nicolas

2013-02-14

We perform out-of-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a monatomic system with Fermi-Jagla (FJ) pair potential interactions. This model system exhibits polyamorphism both in the liquid and glass state. The two liquids, low-density (LDL) and high-density liquid (HDL), are accessible in equilibrium MD simulations and can form two glasses, low-density (LDA) and high-density amorphous (HDA) solid, upon isobaric cooling. The FJ model exhibits many of the anomalous properties observed in water and other polyamorphic liquids and thus, it is an excellent model system to explore qualitatively the thermodynamic properties of such substances. The liquid phase behavior of the FJ model system has been previously characterized. In this work, we focus on the glass behavior of the FJ system. Specifically, we perform systematic isothermal compression and decompression simulations of LDA and HDA at different temperatures and determine "phase diagrams" for the glass state; these phase diagrams varying with the compression/decompression rate used. We obtain the LDA-to-HDA and HDA-to-LDA transition pressure loci, P(LDA-HDA)(T) and P(HDA-LDA)(T), respectively. In addition, the compression-induced amorphization line, at which the low-pressure crystal (LPC) transforms to HDA, P(LPC-HDA)(T), is determined. As originally proposed by Poole et al. [Phys. Rev. E 48, 4605 (1993)] simulations suggest that the P(LDA-HDA)(T) and P(HDA-LDA)(T) loci are extensions of the LDL-to-HDL and HDL-to-LDL spinodal lines into the glass domain. Interestingly, our simulations indicate that the P(LPC-HDA)(T) locus is an extension, into the glass domain, of the LPC metastability limit relative to the liquid. We discuss the effects of compression/decompression rates on the behavior of the P(LDA-HDA)(T), P(HDA-LDA)(T), P(LPC-HDA)(T) loci. The competition between glass polyamorphism and crystallization is also addressed. At our "fast rate," crystallization can be partially suppressed and the glass

Self-assembled quantum dots in a liquid-crystal-tunable microdisk resonator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piegdon, Karoline A.; Offer, Matthias; Lorke, Axel; Urbanski, Martin; Hoischen, Andreas; Kitzerow, Heinz-S.; Declair, Stefan; Förstner, Jens; Meier, Torsten; Reuter, Dirk; Wieck, Andreas D.; Meier, Cedrik

2010-09-01

GaAs-based semiconductor microdisks with high quality whispering gallery modes ( Q>4000) have been fabricated. A layer of self-organized InAs quantum dots (QDs) served as a light source to feed the optical modes at room temperature. In order to achieve frequency tuning of the optical modes, the microdisk devices have been immersed in 4-cyano-4-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a liquid crystal (LC) with a nematic phase below the clearing temperature of TC≈34C. We have studied the device performance in the temperature range of T=20-50C, in order to investigate the influence of the nematic-isotropic phase transition on the optical modes. Moreover, we have applied an AC electric field to the device, which leads in the nematic phase to a reorientation of the anisotropic dielectric tensor of the liquid crystal. This electrical anisotropy can be used to achieve electrical tunability of the optical modes. Using the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) technique with an anisotropic material model, we are able to describe the influence of the liquid crystal qualitatively.

Phase selection during crystallization of undercooled liquid eutectic lead-tin alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fecht, H. J.

1991-01-01

During rapid solidification substantial amounts of undercooling are in general required for formation of metastable phases. Crystallization at varying levels of undercooling and melting of metastable phases were studied during slow cooling and heating of emulsified PB-Sn alloys. Besides the experimental demonstration of the reversibility of metastable phase equilibra, two different principal solidification paths have been identified and compared with the established metastable phase diagram and predictions from classical nucleation theory. The results suggest that the most probable solidification path is described by the 'step rule' resulting in the formation of metastable phases at low undercooling, whereas the stable eutectic phase mixture crystallizes without metastable phase formation at high undercooling.

Application of dot-matrix illumination of liquid crystal phase space light modulator in 3D imaging of APD array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shuai; Sun, Huayan; Guo, Huichao

2018-01-01

Aiming at the problem of beam scanning in low-resolution APD array in three-dimensional imaging, a method of beam scanning with liquid crystal phase-space optical modulator is proposed to realize high-resolution imaging by low-resolution APD array. First, a liquid crystal phase spatial light modulator is used to generate a beam array and then a beam array is scanned. Since the sub-beam divergence angle in the beam array is smaller than the field angle of a single pixel in the APD array, the APD's pixels respond only to the three-dimensional information of the beam illumination position. Through the scanning of the beam array, a single pixel is used to collect the target three-dimensional information multiple times, thereby improving the resolution of the APD detector. Finally, MATLAB is used to simulate the algorithm in this paper by using two-dimensional scalar diffraction theory, which realizes the splitting and scanning with a resolution of 5 x 5. The feasibility is verified theoretically.

Precise calibration of spatial phase response nonuniformity arising in liquid crystal on silicon.

PubMed

Xu, Jingquan; Qin, SiYi; Liu, Chen; Fu, Songnian; Liu, Deming

2018-06-15

In order to calibrate the spatial phase response nonuniformity of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), we propose to use a Twyman-Green interferometer to characterize the wavefront distortion, due to the inherent curvature of the device. During the characterization, both the residual carrier frequency introduced by the Fourier transform evaluation method and the lens aberration are error sources. For the tilted phase error introduced by residual carrier frequency, the least mean square fitting method is used to obtain the tilted phase error. Meanwhile, we use Zernike polynomials fitting based on plane mirror calibration to mitigate the lens aberration. For a typical LCoS with 1×12,288 pixels after calibration, the peak-to-valley value of the inherent wavefront distortion is approximately 0.25λ at 1550 nm, leading to a half-suppression of wavefront distortion. All efforts can suppress the root mean squares value of the inherent wavefront distortion to approximately λ/34.

Tunable liquid crystal photonic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yun-Hsing

2005-07-01

Liquid crystal (LC)-based adaptive optics are important for information processing, optical interconnections, photonics, integrated optics, and optical communications due to their tunable optical properties. In this dissertation, we describe novel liquid crystal photonic devices. In Chap. 3, we demonstrate a novel electrically tunable-efficiency Fresnel lens which is devised for the first time using nanoscale PDLC. The tunable Fresnel lens is very desirable to eliminate the need of external spatial light modulator. The nanoscale LC devices are polarization independent and exhibit a fast response time. Because of the small droplet sizes, the operating voltage is higher than 100 Vrms. To lower the driving voltage, in Chap. 2 and Chap. 3, we have investigated tunable Fresnel lens using polymer-network liquid crystal (PNLC) and phase-separated composite film (PSCOF). The operating voltage is below 12 Vrms. The PNLC and PSCOF devices are polarization dependent. To overcome this shortcoming, stacking two cells with orthogonal alignment directions is a possibility. Using PNLC, we also demonstrated LC blazed grating. The diffraction efficiency of these devices is continuously controlled by the electric field. We also develop a system with continuously tunable focal length. A conventional mechanical zooming system is bulky and power hungry. In Chap. 4, we developed an electrically tunable-focus flat LC spherical lens and microlens array. A huge tunable range from 0.6 m to infinity is achieved by the applied voltage. In Chap. 5, we describe a LC microlens array whose focal length can be switched from positive to negative by the applied voltage. The fast response time feature of our LC microlens array will be very helpful in developing 3-D animated images. In Chap. 6, we demonstrate polymer network liquid crystals for switchable polarizers and optical shutters. The use of dual-frequency liquid crystal and special driving scheme leads to a sub-millisecond response time. In

Segregation of liquid crystal mixtures in topological defects

DOE PAGES

Rahimi, Mohammad; Ramezani-Dakhel, Hadi; Zhang, Rui; ...

2017-04-28

The structure and physical properties of liquid crystal (LC) mixtures are a function of composition, and small changes can have pronounced effects on observables, such as phase-transition temperatures. Traditionally, LC mixtures have been assumed to be compositionally homogenous. The results of chemically detailed simulations presented here show that this is not the case; pronounced deviations of the local order from that observed in the bulk at defects and interfaces lead to significant compositional segregation effects. More specifically, two disclination lines are stabilized in this work by introducing into a nematic liquid crystal mixture a cylindrical body that exhibits perpendicular anchoring.more » Here, it is found that the local composition deviates considerably from that of the bulk at the interface with the cylinder and in the defects, thereby suggesting new assembly and synthetic strategies that may capitalize on the unusual molecular environment provided by liquid crystal mixtures.« less

Wetting of cholesteric liquid crystals.

PubMed

Silvestre, Nuno M; Figueirinhas Pereira, Maria Carolina; Bernardino, Nelson R; Telo da Gama, Margarida M

2016-02-01

We investigate theoretically the wetting properties of cholesteric liquid crystals at a planar substrate. If the properties of substrate and of the interface are such that the cholesteric layers are not distorted, the wetting properties are similar to those of a nematic liquid crystal. If, on the other hand, the anchoring conditions force the distortion of the liquid crystal layers the wetting properties are altered, the free cholesteric-isotropic interface is non-planar and there is a layer of topological defects close to the substrate. These deformations can either promote or hinder the wetting of the substrate by a cholesteric, depending on the properties of the cholesteric liquid crystal.

Phase retardation vs. pretilt angle in liquid crystal cells with homogeneous and inhomogeneous LC director configuration.

PubMed

Belyaev, Victor; Solomatin, Alexey; Chausov, Denis

2013-02-25

Phase retardation of both extraordinary and ordinary polarized rays passing through a liquid crystal (LC) cell with homogeneous and inhomogeneous LC director distribution is calculated as a function of the LC pretilt angle θ₀ on the cell substrates in the range 0 ≤ θ₀ ≤ 90°. The LC pretilt on both substrates can have the same or opposite direction, thereby forming homogeneous, splay, or bend director configurations. At the same pretilt angle value, the largest phase retardation ΔΦ is observed in splay LC cells, whereas the smallest phase retardation is observed in bend cells. For the θ₀ values close to 0, 45°, and 90°, analytical approximations are derived, showing that phase retardation depends on LC birefringence variation.

Liquid-liquid phase separation in internally mixed magnesium sulfate/glutaric acid particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Feng-Min; Wang, Xiao-Wei; Jing, Bo; Zhang, Yun-Hong; Ge, Mao-Fa

2018-04-01

The confocal Raman microscopy is utilized to investigate the liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of mixed magnesium sulfate/glutaric acid (MgSO4/GA) droplets deposited on a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrate and a hydrophilic quartz substrate. Raman spectra collected from different regions of the mixed droplets provide detailed information of component distributions for MgSO4 and GA. During the dehydration process, the MgSO4/GA mixed particles show the initial liquid-liquid phase separation between 85% and 80% relative humidity (RH) on both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates. For the droplets deposited on the two substrates, the inner phase of droplets is dominated by aqueous MgSO4, which is surrounded by a rich GA organic layer due to the surface tension effects. In addition, the crystallization of GA could be observed in the organic aqueous phase while it is inhibited in the inner MgSO4 phase due to the effects of gel formation of MgSO4 at low RH. The Raman spectra reveal that with decreasing RH the morphology of the mixed droplet evolves from a uniform droplet to the structure of LLPS with the GA crystallizing in the outer layer and MgSO4 gel formed in the inner phase. These findings contribute to the further understanding of the role of interactions between inorganic salts and organic acids on the morphological evolution and environmental effects of atmospheric aerosols under ambient RH conditions.

Effects of Shear on the Smectic A Phase of Thermotropic Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panizza, Pascal; Archambault, Pascal; Roux, Didier

1995-02-01

The rheological behaviour of the smectic A phase of the thermotropic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-octylbiphenyl (8CB) is examined. X-ray scattering studies under shear flow were performed to probe changes of structures. We found that in a certain range of temperatures two states of orientation of lamellae exist. These two steady states of orientation are separated by a first order dynamic transition that becomes continuous at T_c (a temperature different from that of the smectic/nematic transition). At low shear rates, the smectic A phase is non-Newtonian: its viscosity η varies as (T_c-T)^{1/2}.dot{γ}^{-1/2} (where dot{γ} is the shear rate and T the temperature). In this regime, the structure of the system is compatible with multilamellar cylinders oriented along the flow direction. At high shear rates, the system becomes Newtonian, its layers are then oriented perpendicular to the shearing plates (as already noticed by Safinya et al. [1]).

Photonic liquid crystal fibers — a new challenge for fiber optics and liquid crystals photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woliński, T. R.; Ertman, S.; Lesiak, P.; Domański, A. W.; Czapla, A.; Dąbrowski, R.; Nowinowski-Kruszelnicki, E.; Wójcik, J.

2006-12-01

The paper reviews and discusses the latest developments in the field of the photonic liquid crystal fibers that have occurred for the last three years in view of new challenges for both fiber optics and liquid crystal photonics. In particular, we present the latest experimental results on electrically induced birefringence in photonic liquid crystal fibers and discuss possibilities and directions of future developments.

Lead(ii) soaps: crystal structures, polymorphism, and solid and liquid mesophases.

PubMed

Martínez-Casado, F J; Ramos-Riesco, M; Rodríguez-Cheda, J A; Redondo-Yélamos, M I; Garrido, L; Fernández-Martínez, A; García-Barriocanal, J; da Silva, I; Durán-Olivencia, M; Poulain, A

2017-07-05

The long-chain members of the lead(ii) alkanoate series or soaps, from octanoate to octadecanoate, have been thoroughly characterized by means of XRD, PDF analysis, DSC, FTIR, ssNMR and other techniques, in all their phases and mesophases. The crystal structures at room temperature of all of the members of the series are now solved, showing the existence of two polymorphic forms in the room temperature crystal phase, different to short and long-chain members. Only nonanoate and decanoate present both forms, and this polymorphism is proven to be monotropic. At higher temperature, these compounds present a solid mesophase, defined as rotator, a liquid crystal phase and a liquid phase, all of which have a similar local arrangement. Since some lead(ii) soaps appear as degradation compounds in oil paintings, the solved crystal structures of lead(ii) soaps can now be used as fingerprints for their detection using X-ray diffraction. Pair distribution function analysis on these compounds is very similar in the same phases and mesophases for the different members, showing the same short range order. This observation suggests that this technique could also be used in the detection of these compounds in disordered phases or in the initial stages of formation in paintings.

Liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer. Ph.D. Thesis - Arizona Univ., 1995

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R.

1995-01-01

A new instrument, the liquid crystal point diffraction-interferometer (LCPDI), has been developed for the measurement of phase objects. This instrument maintains the compact, robust design of Linnik's point diffraction interferometer (PDI) and adds to it phase stepping capability for quantitative interferogram analysis. The result is a compact, simple to align, environmentally insensitive interferometer capable of accurately measuring optical wavefronts with very high data density and with automated data reduction. This dissertation describes the theory of both the PDI and liquid crystal phase control. The design considerations for the LCPDI are presented, including manufacturing considerations. The operation and performance of the LCPDI are discussed, including sections regarding alignment, calibration, and amplitude modulation effects. The LCPDI is then demonstrated using two phase objects: defocus difference wavefront, and a temperature distribution across a heated chamber filled with silicone oil. The measured results are compared to theoretical or independently measured results and show excellent agreement. A computer simulation of the LCPDI was performed to verify the source of observed periodic phase measurement error. The error stems from intensity variations caused by dye molecules rotating within the liquid crystal layer. Methods are discussed for reducing this error. Algorithms are presented which reduce this error; they are also useful for any phase-stepping interferometer that has unwanted intensity fluctuations, such as those caused by unregulated lasers.

Neutron scattering studies of molecular conformations in liquid crystal polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noirez, L.; Moussa, F.; Cotton, J. P.; Keller, P.; Pépy, G.

1991-03-01

A comblike liquid crystal polymer (LPC) is a polymer on which mesogenic molecules have been grafted. It exhibits a succession of liquid crystal phases. Usually the equilibrium conformation of an ordinary polymeric chain corresponds to a maximum entropy, i.e., to an isotropic spherical coil. How does the backbone of a LCP behave in the nematic and smectic field? Small-angle neutron scattering may answer this question. Such measurements are presented here on four different polymers as a function of temperature. An anisotropy of the backbone conformation is found in all these studied compounds, much more pronounced in the smectic phase than in the nematic phase: the backbone spreads more or less perpendicularly to its hanging cores. A comparison with existing theories and a discussion of these results is outlined.

An Optically Isotropic Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystal (OI-AFLC) Display Mode Operating over a Wide Temperature Range using Ternary Bent-Core Liquid Crystal Mixtures

DOE PAGES

Bergquist, Leah; Zhang, Cuiyu; Ribeiro de Almeida, Roberta R.; ...

2017-02-07

Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of bent-core liquid crystal (LC) compounds and the preparation of mixtures that provide an optically isotropic antiferroelectric (OI-AFLC) liquid crystal display mode over a very wide temperature interval and well below room temperature. From the collection of compounds synthesized during this study, we recognized that several ternary mixtures displayed a modulated SmC aP A phase down to below -40 °C and up to about 100 °C on both heating and cooling, as well as optical tilt angles in the transformed state of approximately 45° (optically isotropic state). The materials were fully characterizedmore » and their liquid crystal as well as electro-optical properties analyzed by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy, and electro-optical tests.« less

An Optically Isotropic Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystal (OI-AFLC) Display Mode Operating over a Wide Temperature Range using Ternary Bent-Core Liquid Crystal Mixtures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bergquist, Leah; Zhang, Cuiyu; Ribeiro de Almeida, Roberta R.

Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of bent-core liquid crystal (LC) compounds and the preparation of mixtures that provide an optically isotropic antiferroelectric (OI-AFLC) liquid crystal display mode over a very wide temperature interval and well below room temperature. From the collection of compounds synthesized during this study, we recognized that several ternary mixtures displayed a modulated SmC aP A phase down to below -40 °C and up to about 100 °C on both heating and cooling, as well as optical tilt angles in the transformed state of approximately 45° (optically isotropic state). The materials were fully characterizedmore » and their liquid crystal as well as electro-optical properties analyzed by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy, and electro-optical tests.« less

Generation of dark hollow femtosecond pulsed beam by phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Yongming; Ma, Haotong; Li, Xiujian; Hu, Wenhua; Yang, Jiankun

2011-07-01

Based on the refractive laser beam shaping system, the dark hollow femtosecond pulse beam shaping technique with a phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is demonstrated. The phase distribution of the LC-SLM is derived by the energy conservation and constant optical path principle. The effects of the shaping system on the temporal properties, including spectral phase distribution and bandwidth of the femtosecond pulse, are analyzed in detail. Experimental results show that the hollow intensity distribution of the output pulsed beam can be maintained much at more than 1200mm. The spectral phase of the pulse is changed, and the pulse width is expanded from 199 to 230fs, which is caused by the spatial--temporal coupling effect. The coupling effect mainly depends on the phase-only LC-SLM itself, not on its loaded phase distribution. The experimental results indicate that the proposed shaping setup can generate a dark hollow femtosecond pulsed beam effectively, because the temporal Gaussian waveform is unchanged.

Nematic Liquid-Crystal Colloids

PubMed Central

Muševič, Igor

2017-01-01

This article provides a concise review of a new state of colloidal matter called nematic liquid-crystal colloids. These colloids are obtained by dispersing microparticles of different shapes in a nematic liquid crystal that acts as a solvent for the dispersed particles. The microparticles induce a local deformation of the liquid crystal, which then generates topological defects and long-range forces between the neighboring particles. The colloidal forces in nematic colloids are much stronger than the forces in ordinary colloids in isotropic solvents, exceeding thousands of kBT per micrometer-sized particle. Of special interest are the topological defects in nematic colloids, which appear in many fascinating forms, such as singular points, closed loops, multitudes of interlinked and knotted loops or soliton-like structures. The richness of the topological phenomena and the possibility to design and control topological defects with laser tweezers make colloids in nematic liquid crystals an excellent playground for testing the basic theorems of topology. PMID:29295574

Liquid Crystal Mediated Nano-assembled Gold Micro-shells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quint, Makiko; Sarang, Som; Quint, David; Huang, Kerwyn; Gopinathan, Ajay; Hirst, Linda; Ghosh, Sayantani

We have created 3D nano-assenbled micro-shell by using thermotropic liquid crystal (LC), 4-Cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), doped with mesogen-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The assembly process is driven by the isotropic-nematic phase transition dynamics. We uniformly disperse the functionalized AuNPs into isotropic liquid crystal matrix and the mixture is cooled from the isotropic to the nematic phase. During the phase transition, the separation of LC-AuNP rich isotropic and ordered 5CB rich domains cause the functionalized AuNPs to move into the shrinking isotropic regions. The mesogenic ligands are locally crystalized during this process, which leads to the formation of a spherical shell with a densely packed wall of AuNPs. These micro-shells are capable of encapsulating fluorescence dye without visible leakages for several months. Additionally, they demonstrate strong localized surface plasmon resonance, which leads to localized heating on optical excitation. This photothermal effect disrupts the structure, releasing contents within seconds. Our results exhibiting the capture and optically regulated release of encapsulated substances is a novel platform that combines drug-delivery and photothermal therapy in one versatile and multifunctional unit. This work is supported by the NSF Grants No. DMR-1056860, ECC-1227034, and a University of California Merced Faculty Mentor Fellowship.

Periodic assembly of nanoparticle arrays in disclinations of cholesteric liquid crystals.

PubMed

Li, Yunfeng; Prince, Elisabeth; Cho, Sangho; Salari, Alinaghi; Mosaddeghian Golestani, Youssef; Lavrentovich, Oleg D; Kumacheva, Eugenia

2017-02-28

An important goal of the modern soft matter science is to discover new self-assembly modalities to precisely control the placement of small particles in space. Spatial inhomogeneity of liquid crystals offers the capability to organize colloids in certain regions such as the cores of the topological defects. Here we report two self-assembly modes of nanoparticles in linear defects-disclinations in a lyotropic colloidal cholesteric liquid crystal: a continuous helicoidal thread and a periodic array of discrete beads. The beads form one-dimensional arrays with a periodicity that matches half a pitch of the cholesteric phase. The periodic assembly is governed by the anisotropic surface tension and elasticity at the interface of beads with the liquid crystal. This mode of self-assembly of nanoparticles in disclinations expands our ability to use topological defects in liquid crystals as templates for the organization of nanocolloids.

Relaxation processes of the liquid crystal ME6N in the isotropic phase studied by Raman scattering experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giorgini, Maria Grazia; Arcioni, Alberto; Polizzi, Ciro; Musso, Maurizio; Ottaviani, Paolo

2004-03-01

We have investigated the Raman profiles of the ν(C≡N) and ν(C=O) vibrational modes of the nematic liquid crystal ME6N (4-cyanophenyl-4'-hexylbenzoate) in the isotropic phase at different temperatures and used them as probes of the dynamics and structural organization of this liquid. The vibrational time correlation functions of the ν(C≡N) mode, rather adequately interpreted within the assumption of exponential modulation function (the Kubo-Rothschild theory), indicate that the system experiences an intermediate dynamical regime that gets only slightly faster with increasing temperature. However, this theory fails in predicting the non-exponential behavior that the time correlation functions manifest in the long time range (t>3 ps). For this reason we have additionally approached the interpretation of vibrational correlation functions in terms of the theory formulated by Rothschild and co-workers for locally structured liquids. The application of this theory reveals that the molecular dynamics in this liquid crystal in the isotropic phase is that deriving from a distribution of differently sized clusters, which narrows as the temperature increases. Even at the highest temperature reached in this study (87 °C above the nematic-isotropic transition), the liquid has not yet achieved the structure of the simple liquid and the dynamics has not reached the limit of the single channel process. The vibrational and orientational relaxations occur in very different time scales. The temperature independence of the orientational dynamics in the whole range from 55 °C to 135 °C has been referred to the nonhydrodynamic behavior of the system, arising when local pseudonematic structures persist for times longer than the orientational relaxation. The occurrence of the process of resonant vibrational energy transfer between the C=O groups of adjacent molecules has been revealed in the isotropic phase by a slightly positive Raman noncoincidence effect in the band associated

Polymer-induced phase separation and crystallization in immunoglobulin G solutions.

PubMed

Li, Jianguo; Rajagopalan, Raj; Jiang, Jianwen

2008-05-28

We study the effects of the size of polymer additives and ionic strength on the phase behavior of a nonglobular protein-immunoglobulin G (IgG)-by using a simple four-site model to mimic the shape of IgG. The interaction potential between the protein molecules consists of a Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek-type colloidal potential and an Asakura-Oosawa depletion potential arising from the addition of polymer. Liquid-liquid equilibria and fluid-solid equilibria are calculated by using the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo technique and the Gibbs-Duhem integration (GDI) method, respectively. Absolute Helmholtz energy is also calculated to get an initial coexisting point as required by GDI. The results reveal a nonmonotonic dependence of the critical polymer concentration rho(PEG) (*) (i.e., the minimum polymer concentration needed to induce liquid-liquid phase separation) on the polymer-to-protein size ratio q (equivalently, the range of the polymer-induced depletion interaction potential). We have developed a simple equation for estimating the minimum amount of polymer needed to induce the liquid-liquid phase separation and show that rho(PEG) (*) approximately [q(1+q)(3)]. The results also show that the liquid-liquid phase separation is metastable for low-molecular weight polymers (q=0.2) but stable at large molecular weights (q=1.0), thereby indicating that small sizes of polymer are required for protein crystallization. The simulation results provide practical guidelines for the selection of polymer size and ionic strength for protein phase separation and crystallization.

Metastable phase selection from undercooled Zr 77 Rh 23 liquid alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, M. L.; Gibbons, P. C.; Vogt, A. J.

2017-11-01

From measurements of X-ray and neutron scattering of electrostatically levitated Zr77Rh23 liquids, a variety of metastable crystallization behavior was observed. The metastable phase selection in deeply undercooled liquid droplets is characterized and their crystallization pathways discussed. A metastable phase previously identified as a primary devitrification product from the metallic glass formed when undercooling was maximized to near the hypercooling limit. The direct formation of α–Zr and the equilibrium C16 phase as well as a newly discovered Zr5Rh3 (Mg5Si3-type) phase are also reported.

Self-assembly of nematic liquid crystal elastomer filaments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wei-Shao; Xia, Yu; Yang, Shu; Yodh, A. G.

In this work we investigate the self-assembly of nematic liquid crystal polymer (NLCP) filaments and their corresponding cross-linked elastomer structures. Specifically, by fine-tuning surfactant concentration, prepolymer chain length, and temperature within a background aqueous phase we can generate filaments composed of oligomerized LC monomers. Filaments with narrowly dispersed diameters ranging from one hundred nanometers to a few micrometers can be obtained. Using polarization optical microscopy, we show that the nematic LCs within the filaments have an escaped radial structure. After photo-cross-linking, nematic liquid crystal elastomer filaments are obtained with well-maintained directors and smooth surface structure. Since these materials are elastomers, the size and mechanical and optical response of the filaments can be ''tuned'' near the nematic to isotropic phase transition temperature. This work is supported by NSF DMR16-07378, PENN MRSEC Grant DMR11-20901, and NASA Grant NNX08AO0G.

Local structural ordering in surface-confined liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śliwa, I.; Jeżewski, W.; Zakharov, A. V.

2017-06-01

The effect of the interplay between attractive nonlocal surface interactions and attractive pair long-range intermolecular couplings on molecular structures of liquid crystals confined in thin cells with flat solid surfaces has been studied. Extending the McMillan mean field theory to include finite systems, it has been shown that confining surfaces can induce complex orientational and translational ordering of molecules. Typically, local smectic A, nematic, and isotropic phases have been shown to coexist in certain temperature ranges, provided that confining cells are sufficiently thick, albeit finite. Due to the nonlocality of surface interactions, the spatial arrangement of these local phases can display, in general, an unexpected complexity along the surface normal direction. In particular, molecules located in the vicinity of surfaces can still be organized in smectic layers, even though nematic and/or isotropic order can simultaneously appear in the interior of cells. The resulting surface freezing of smectic layers has been confirmed to occur even for rather weak surface interactions. The surface interactions cannot, however, prevent smectic layers from melting relatively close to system boundaries, even when molecules are still arranged in layers within the central region of the system. The internal interfaces, separating individual liquid-crystal phases, are demonstrated here to form fronts of local finite-size transitions that move across cells under temperature changes. Although the complex molecular ordering in surface confined liquid-crystal systems can essentially be controlled by temperature variations, specific thermal properties of these systems, especially the nature of the local transitions, are argued to be strongly conditioned to the degree of molecular packing.

Lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals: From viscoelastic properties to living liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Shuang

Lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC) represents a broad range of molecules, from organic dyes and drugs to DNA, that self-assemble into linear aggregates in water through face-to-face stacking. These linear aggregates of high aspect ratio are capable of orientational order, forming, for example nematic phase. Since the microscopic properties (such as length) of the chromonic aggregates are results of subtle balance between energy and entropy, the macroscopic viscoelastic properties of the nematic media are sensitive to change of external factors. In the first part of this thesis, by using dynamic light scattering and magnetic Frederiks transition techniques, we study the Frank elastic moduli and viscosity coefficients of LCLC disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and sunset yellow (SSY) as functions of concentration c , temperature T and ionic contents. The elastic moduli of splay (K1) and bend (K3) are in the order of 10pN, about 10 times larger than the twist modulus (K2). The splay modulus K1 and the ratio K1/K3 both increase substantially as T decreases or c increases, which we attribute to the elongation of linear aggregates at lower T or higher c . The bend viscosity is comparable to that of thermotropic liquid crystals, while the splay and twist viscosities are several orders of magnitude larger, changing exponentially with T . Additional ionic additives into the system influence the viscoelastic properties of these systems in a dramatic and versatile way. For example, monovalent salt NaCl decreases bend modulus K3 and increases twist viscosity, while an elevated pH decreases all the parameters. We attribute these features to the ion-induced changes in length and flexibility of building units of LCLC, the chromonic aggregates, a property not found in conventional thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals form by covalently bound units of fixed length. The second part of the thesis studies a new active bio-mechanical hybrid system called living liquid crystal

Orientational Order in Liquid Crystal Complexes Based on Lanthanides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dobrun, L. A.; Kovshik, A. P.; Ryumtsev, E. I.; Kalinkin, A. A.

2018-04-01

In this study, we have for the first time determined the degree of an orientational order S for a series of liquid-crystal complexes based on lanthanides (Eu+3, Gd+3, Tb+3, Dy+3) with the same ligand composition in the temperature range of existence of the nematic phase by using experimental refractometry results. We have also found an even-odd alternative S as number of protons in the ions complexing agent has consecutively increased. The obtained values of S have been compared with the corresponding degrees of order of the calamite organic liquid crystals.

Dependence of optical phase modulation on anchoring strength of dielectric shield wall surfaces in small liquid crystal pixels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isomae, Yoshitomo; Shibata, Yosei; Ishinabe, Takahiro; Fujikake, Hideo

2018-03-01

We demonstrated that the uniform phase modulation in a pixel can be realized by optimizing the anchoring strength on the walls and the wall width in the dielectric shield wall structure, which is the needed pixel structure for realizing a 1-µm-pitch optical phase modulator. The anchoring force degrades the uniformity of the phase modulation in ON-state pixels, but it also keeps liquid crystals from rotating against the leakage of an electric field. We clarified that the optimal wall width and anchoring strength are 250 nm and less than 10-4 J/m2, respectively.

Low voltage polymer network liquid crystal for infrared spatial light modulators.

PubMed

Peng, Fenglin; Xu, Daming; Chen, Haiwei; Wu, Shin-Tson

2015-02-09

We report a low-voltage and fast-response polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) infrared phase modulator. To optimize device performance, we propose a physical model to understand the curing temperature effect on average domain size. Good agreement between model and experiment is obtained. By optimizing the UV curing temperature and employing a large dielectric anisotropy LC host, we have lowered the 2π phase change voltage to 22.8V at 1.55μm wavelength while keeping response time at about 1 ms. Widespread application of such a PNLC integrated into a high resolution liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) for infrared spatial light modulator is foreseeable.

Dichroic Liquid Crystal Displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahadur, Birendra

* Effect of Thickness * Impact of Order Parameter * Impact of the Host * Impact of Polarizer * Colour Applications * Multiplexing * QUARTER WAVE PLATE DICHROIC DISPLAYS * Operational Principle and Display Configuration11-13 * Electro-Optical Performance * DYE-DOPED TN DISPLAYS * Threshold Characteristic, Contrast Ratio and Switching Speed * PHASE CHANGE EFFECT DICHROIC LCDs * Theoretical Background * Threshold Characteristic and Molecular Orientation * MOLECULAR ORIENTATION DURING FIELD-INDUCED PHASE TRANSITION WITH HOMOGENEOUS WALL ALIGNMENT * MOLECULAR ORIENTATION DURING FIELD-INDUCED PHASE TRANSITION WITH HOMEOTROPIC WALL ALIGNMENT * Contrast Ratio, Transmission, Brightness and Switching Speed3,7,10,198-214 * Memory or Reminiscent Contrast * Electro-optical Performance vs. Temperature * Multiplexing Phase Change Dichroic LCDs * DOUBLE CELL DICHROIC LCDs3,9,14-17,232-234 * Double Cell Nematic Dichroic LCD3,8,9,14,15,233 * Double Cell One Pitch Cholesteric LCD16,17 * Double Cell Phase Change Dichroic LCD214,232 * POSITIVE MODE DICHROIC LCDS3,8,9 * Positive Mode Heilmeier Cells3,8,9,43,77,78,235-238 * USING PLEOCHROIC DYES3,8,9,43,235-238 * USING NEGATIVE DICHROIC DYES3,8,9,63,77,78156 * DUAL FREQUENCY ADDRESSED DICHROIC DISPLAYS75,238 * Positive Mode Dichroic LCDs Using λ/4 Plate * Positive Mode Double Cell Dichroic LCD * Positive Mode Dichroic LCDs Using Special Electrode patterns7,8,239-241 * Positive Mode Phase Change Dichroic LCDs3,8,9,230,243-248 * Dichroic LCDs Using an Admixture of Pleochroic and Negative Dichroic Dyes78,118 * SUPERTWIST DICHROIC EFFECT (SDE) DISPLAYS21-23 * FERROELECTRIC DICHROIC LCDs24-27 * Devices Using A Single Polarizer * Devices Using No Polarizer24-27 * POLYMER DISPERSED DICHROIC LCDs28-30,252-259 * DICHROIC POLYMER LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS * Heilmeier Type Displays * Guest-Host Cell Using an Admixture Of L.C. Polymer and Low Molecular Weight Liquid Crysta As Host * Polymeric Ferroelectric Dichroic LCDs * SMECTIC A DICHROIC LCDs * Laser

Phase Separation and Crystallization of Hemoglobin C in Transgenic Mouse and Human Erythrocytes

PubMed Central

Canterino, Joseph E.; Galkin, Oleg; Vekilov, Peter G.; Hirsch, Rhoda Elison

2008-01-01

Individuals expressing hemoglobin C (β6 Glu→Lys) present red blood cells (RBC) with intraerythrocytic crystals that form when hemoglobin (Hb) is oxygenated. Our earlier in vitro liquid-liquid (L-L) phase separation studies demonstrated that liganded HbC exhibits a stronger net intermolecular attraction with a longer range than liganded HbS or HbA, and that L-L phase separation preceded and enhanced crystallization. We now present evidence for the role of phase separation in HbC crystallization in the RBC, and the role of the RBC membrane as a nucleation center. RBC obtained from both human homozygous HbC patients and transgenic mice expressing only human HbC were studied by bright-field and differential interference contrast video-enhanced microscopy. RBC were exposed to hypertonic NaCl solution (1.5–3%) to induce crystallization within an appropriate experimental time frame. L-L phase separation occurred inside the RBC, which in turn enhanced the formation of intraerythrocytic crystals. RBC L-L phase separation and crystallization comply with the thermodynamic and kinetics laws established through in vitro studies of phase transformations. This is the first report, to the best of our knowledge, to capture a temporal view of intraerythrocytic HbC phase separation, crystal formation, and dissolution. PMID:18621841

Real-time liquid-crystal atmosphere turbulence simulator with graphic processing unit.

PubMed

Hu, Lifa; Xuan, Li; Li, Dayu; Cao, Zhaoliang; Mu, Quanquan; Liu, Yonggang; Peng, Zenghui; Lu, Xinghai

2009-04-27

To generate time-evolving atmosphere turbulence in real time, a phase-generating method for our liquid-crystal (LC) atmosphere turbulence simulator (ATS) is derived based on the Fourier series (FS) method. A real matrix expression for generating turbulence phases is given and calculated with a graphic processing unit (GPU), the GeForce 8800 Ultra. A liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) with 256x256 pixels is used as the turbulence simulator. The total time to generate a turbulence phase is about 7.8 ms for calculation and readout with the GPU. A parallel processing method of calculating and sending a picture to the LCOS is used to improve the simulating speed of our LC ATS. Therefore, the real-time turbulence phase-generation frequency of our LC ATS is up to 128 Hz. To our knowledge, it is the highest speed used to generate a turbulence phase in real time.

Effects of monoclinic symmetry on the properties of biaxial liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solodkov, Nikita V.; Nagaraj, Mamatha; Jones, J. Cliff

2018-04-01

Tilted smectic liquid crystal phases such as the smectic-C phase seen in calamitic liquid crystals are usually treated using the assumption of biaxial orthorhombic symmetry. However, the smectic-C phase has monoclinic symmetry, thereby allowing disassociation of the principal optic and dielectric axes based on symmetry and invariance principles. This is demonstrated here by comparing optical and dielectric measurements for two materials with highly first-order direct transitions from nematic to smectic-C phases. The results show a high difference between the orientations of the principal axes sets, which is interpreted as the existence of two distinct cone angles for optical and dielectric frequencies. Both materials exhibit an increasing degree of monoclinic behavior with decreasing temperature. Due to fast switching speeds, ferroelectric smectic-C* materials are important for fast modulators and LCoS devices, where the dielectric biaxiality influences device operation.

Crystal growth within a phase change memory cell.

PubMed

Sebastian, Abu; Le Gallo, Manuel; Krebs, Daniel

2014-07-07

In spite of the prominent role played by phase change materials in information technology, a detailed understanding of the central property of such materials, namely the phase change mechanism, is still lacking mostly because of difficulties associated with experimental measurements. Here, we measure the crystal growth velocity of a phase change material at both the nanometre length and the nanosecond timescale using phase-change memory cells. The material is studied in the technologically relevant melt-quenched phase and directly in the environment in which the phase change material is going to be used in the application. We present a consistent description of the temperature dependence of the crystal growth velocity in the glass and the super-cooled liquid up to the melting temperature.

Orientation of liquid crystalline blue phases on unidirectionally orienting surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, Misaki; Ohkawa, Takuma; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Fukuda, Jun-ichi; Kikuchi, Hirostugu; Ozaki, Masanori

2018-03-01

Liquid crystalline cholesteric blue phases (BPs) continue to attract interest due to their fast response times and quasi-polarization-independent phase modulation capabilities. Various approaches have recently been proposed to control the crystal orientation of BPs on substrates; however, their basic orientation properties on standard, unidirectionally orienting alignment layers have not been investigated in detail. Through analysis of the azimuthal orientation of Kossel diagrams, we study the 3D crystal orientation of a BP material—with a phase sequence of cholesteric, BP I, and BP II—on unidirectionally orienting surfaces prepared using two methods: rubbing and photoalignment. BP II grown from the isotropic phase is sensitive to surface conditions, with different crystal planes orienting on the two substrates. On the other hand, strong thermal hysteresis is observed in BPs grown through a different liquid crystal phase, implying that the preceding structure determines the orientation. More specifically, the BP II-I transition is accompanied by a rotation of the crystal such that the crystal direction defined by certain low-value Miller indices transform into different directions, and within the allowed rotations, different azimuthal configurations are obtained in the same cell depending on the thermal process. Our findings demonstrate that, for the alignment control of BPs, the thermal process is as important as the properties of the alignment layer.

Self-assembled ordered structures in thin films of HAT5 discotic liquid crystal.

PubMed

Morales, Piero; Lagerwall, Jan; Vacca, Paolo; Laschat, Sabine; Scalia, Giusy

2010-05-20

Thin films of the discotic liquid crystal hexapentyloxytriphenylene (HAT5), prepared from solution via casting or spin-coating, were investigated by atomic force microscopy and polarizing optical microscopy, revealing large-scale ordered structures substantially different from those typically observed in standard samples of the same material. Thin and very long fibrils of planar-aligned liquid crystal were found, possibly formed as a result of an intermediate lyotropic nematic state arising during the solvent evaporation process. Moreover, in sufficiently thin films the crystallization seems to be suppressed, extending the uniform order of the liquid crystal phase down to room temperature. This should be compared to the bulk situation, where the same material crystallizes into a polymorphic structure at 68 °C.

Liquid crystal interfaces: Experiments, simulations and biosensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popov, Piotr

Interfacial phenomena are ubiquitous and extremely important in various aspects of biological and industrial processes. For example, many liquid crystal applications start by alignment with a surface. The underlying mechanisms of the molecular organization of liquid crystals at an interface are still under intensive study and continue to be important to the display industry in order to develop better and/or new display technology. My dissertation research has been devoted to studying how complex liquid crystals can be guided to organize at an interface, and to using my findings to develop practical applications. Specifically, I have been working on developing biosensors using liquid-crystal/surfactant/lipid/protein interactions as well as the alignment of low-symmetry liquid crystals for potential new display and optomechanical applications. The biotechnology industry needs better ways of sensing biomaterials and identifying various nanoscale events at biological interfaces and in aqueous solutions. Sensors in which the recognition material is a liquid crystal naturally connects the existing knowledge and experience of the display and biotechnology industries together with surface and soft matter sciences. This dissertation thus mainly focuses on the delicate phenomena that happen at liquid interfaces. In the introduction, I start by defining the interface and discuss its structure and the relevant interfacial forces. I then introduce the general characteristics of biosensors and, in particular, describe the design of biosensors that employ liquid crystal/aqueous solution interfaces. I further describe the basic properties of liquid crystal materials that are relevant for liquid crystal-based biosensing applications. In CHAPTER 2, I describe the simulation methods and experimental techniques used in this dissertation. In CHAPTER 3 and CHAPTER 4, I present my computer simulation work. CHAPTER 3 presents insight of how liquid crystal molecules are aligned by

Free energy perturbation method for measuring elastic constants of liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Abhijeet

There is considerable interest in designing liquid crystals capable of yielding specific morphological responses in confined environments, including capillaries and droplets. The morphology of a liquid crystal is largely dictated by the elastic constants, which are difficult to measure and are only available for a handful of substances. In this work, a first-principles based method is proposed to calculate the Frank elastic constants of nematic liquid crystals directly from atomistic models. These include the standard splay, twist and bend deformations, and the often-ignored but important saddle-splay constant. The proposed method is validated using a well-studied Gay-Berne(3,5,2,1) model; we examine the effects of temperature and system size on the elastic constants in the nematic and smectic phases. We find that our measurements of splay, twist, and bend elastic constants are consistent with previous estimates for the nematic phase. We further outline the implementation of our approach for the saddle-splay elastic constant, and find it to have a value at the limits of the Ericksen inequalities. We then proceed to report results for the elastic constants commonly known liquid crystals namely 4-pentyl-4'-cynobiphenyl (5CB) using atomistic model, and show that the values predicted by our approach are consistent with a subset of the available but limited experimental literature.

Thermotropic Ionic Liquid Crystals

PubMed Central

Axenov, Kirill V.; Laschat, Sabine

2011-01-01

The last five years’ achievements in the synthesis and investigation of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals are reviewed. The present review describes the mesomorphic properties displayed by organic, as well as metal-containing ionic mesogens. In addition, a short overview on the ionic polymer and self-assembled liquid crystals is given. Potential and actual applications of ionic mesogens are also discussed. PMID:28879986

Thermotropic Ionic Liquid Crystals.

PubMed

Axenov, Kirill V; Laschat, Sabine

2011-01-14

The last five years' achievements in the synthesis and investigation of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals are reviewed. The present review describes the mesomorphic properties displayed by organic, as well as metal-containing ionic mesogens. In addition, a short overview on the ionic polymer and self-assembled liquid crystals is given. Potential and actual applications of ionic mesogens are also discussed.

Generation of dark hollow femtosecond pulsed beam by phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator.

PubMed

Nie, Yongming; Ma, Haotong; Li, Xiujian; Hu, Wenhua; Yang, Jiankun

2011-07-20

Based on the refractive laser beam shaping system, the dark hollow femtosecond pulse beam shaping technique with a phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is demonstrated. The phase distribution of the LC-SLM is derived by the energy conservation and constant optical path principle. The effects of the shaping system on the temporal properties, including spectral phase distribution and bandwidth of the femtosecond pulse, are analyzed in detail. Experimental results show that the hollow intensity distribution of the output pulsed beam can be maintained much at more than 1200 mm. The spectral phase of the pulse is changed, and the pulse width is expanded from 199 to 230 fs, which is caused by the spatial-temporal coupling effect. The coupling effect mainly depends on the phase-only LC-SLM itself, not on its loaded phase distribution. The experimental results indicate that the proposed shaping setup can generate a dark hollow femtosecond pulsed beam effectively, because the temporal Gaussian waveform is unchanged. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Preparation and Optical Properties of Spherical Inverse Opals by Liquid Phase Deposition Using Spherical Colloidal Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoi, Y.; Tominaga, T.

2013-03-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) inverse opals in spherical shape were prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD) using spherical colloidal crystals as templates. Spherical colloidal crystals were produced by ink-jet drying technique. Aqueous emulsion droplets that contain polystyrene latex particles were ejected into air and dried. Closely packed colloidal crystals with spherical shape were obtained. The obtained spherical colloidal crystals were used as templates for the LPD. The templates were dispersed in the deposition solution of the LPD, i.e. a mixed solution of ammonium hexafluorotitanate and boric acid and reacted for 4 h at 30 °C. After the LPD process, the interstitial spaces of the spherical colloidal crystals were completely filled with titanium oxide. Subsequent heat treatment resulted in removal of templates and spherical titanium dioxide inverse opals. The spherical shape of the template was retained. SEM observations indicated that the periodic ordered voids were surrounded by titanium dioxide. The optical reflectance spectra indicated that the optical properties of the spherical titanium dioxide inverse opals were due to Bragg diffractions from the ordered structure. Filling in the voids of the inverse opals with different solvents caused remarkable changes in the reflectance peak.

Effects of ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride concentration on PEG/protein liquid-liquid phase separation.

PubMed

Dumetz, André C; Lewus, Rachael A; Lenhoff, Abraham M; Kaler, Eric W

2008-09-16

When added to protein solutions, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) creates an effective attraction between protein molecules due to depletion forces. This effect has been widely used to crystallize proteins, and PEG is among the most successful crystallization agents in current use. However, PEG is almost always used in combination with a salt at either low or relatively high concentrations. Here the effects of sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate concentration on PEG 8000/ovalbumin liquid-liquid (L-L) phase separation are investigated. At low salt the L-L phase separation occurs at decreasing protein concentration with increasing salt concentration, presumably due to repulsive electrostatic interactions between proteins. At high salt concentration, the behavior depends on the nature of the salt. Sodium chloride has little effect on the L-L phase separation, but ammonium sulfate decreases the protein concentration at which the L-L phase separation occurs. This trend is attributed to the effects of critical fluctuations on depletion forces. The implications of these results for designing solution conditions optimal for protein crystallization are discussed.

Hollow Gaussian beam generated by beam shaping with phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Yongming; Li, Xiujian; Qi, Junli; Ma, Haotong; Liao, Jiali; Yang, Jiankun; Hu, Wenhua

2012-03-01

Based on the refractive beam shaping system, the transformation of a quasi-Gaussian beam into a dark hollow Gaussian beam by a phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is proposed. According to the energy conservation and constant optical path principle, the phase distribution of the aspheric lens and the phase-only LC-SLM can modulate the wave-front properly to generate the hollow beam. The numerical simulation results indicate that, the dark hollow intensity distribution of the output shaped beam can be maintained well for a certain propagation distance during which the dark region will not decrease whereas the ideal hollow Gaussian beam will do. By designing the phase modulation profile, which loaded into the LC-SLM carefully, the experimental results indicate that the dark hollow intensity distribution of the output shaped beam can be maintained well even at a distance much more than 550 mm from the LC-SLM, which agree with the numerical simulation results.

Laser-directed hierarchical assembly of liquid crystal defects and control of optical phase singularities

PubMed Central

Ackerman, Paul J.; Qi, Zhiyuan; Lin, Yiheng; Twombly, Christopher W.; Laviada, Mauricio J.; Lansac, Yves; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2012-01-01

Topological defect lines are ubiquitous and important in a wide variety of fascinating phenomena and theories in many fields ranging from materials science to early-universe cosmology, and to engineering of laser beams. However, they are typically hard to control in a reliable manner. Here we describe facile erasable “optical drawing” of self-assembled defect clusters in liquid crystals. These quadrupolar defect clusters, stabilized by the medium's chirality and the tendency to form twisted configurations, are shaped into arbitrary two-dimensional patterns, including reconfigurable phase gratings capable of generating and controlling optical phase singularities in laser beams. Our findings bridge the studies of defects in condensed matter physics and optics and may enable applications in data storage, singular optics, displays, electro-optic devices, diffraction gratings, as well as in both optically- and electrically-addressed pixel-free spatial light modulators. PMID:22679553

Functional Nanostructured Materials Based on Polymerized Surfactant Liquid Crystal Assemblies Liquid Crystal Assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gin, Douglas

2003-03-01

The development of materials with controlled nanostructures is one of the most important new areas of scientific research in chemistry and engineering. Our research group has developed a novel approach for making nanostructured polymer materials with unique functional properties using liquid crystals as starting materials. In this approach, we design polymerizable organic building blocks based on lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) (i.e., amphiphiles or surfactants) that carry, or can accommodate, a functional property of general interest. Through appropriate molecular design, these monomers self-assemble in the presence of water into fluid, yet ordered phase-separated, water-hydrocarbon assemblies with predictable nanoscale geometries. The architectures of these LLC phases can range from stacked two-dimensional lamellae to hexagonally ordered cylindrical channels with uniform feature sizes in the 1-10 nm range. These LLC phases are then photopolymerized into robust polymer networks with preservation of their small-scale structures. This approach allows us to investigate the effect of nanometer-scale architecture on important bulk properties, as well as to engineer chemical environments on the nanometer-scale for several areas of application. In this talk, new functional materials based on the polymerization of the lyotropic inverted hexagonal phase will be presented as one example of our general approach. Issues in the design and photopolymerization of functional amphiphilic monomers that adopt this LC architecture will be discussed. More importantly, the use of the resulting nanostructured polymer networks in three areas of application will be presented: (1) as templates for the synthesis of functional nanocomposites; (2) as tunable heterogeneous catalysts, and (3) as nanoporous membrane and separation media. In particular, issues pertaining to the contribution of nanoscale architecture to the performance of these systems will be highlighted. Opportunities for

Myelin structures formed by thermotropic smectic liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peddireddy, Karthik Reddy; Kumar, Pramoda; Thutupalli, Shashi; Herminghaus, Stephan; Bahr, Christian

2014-03-01

We report on transient structures, formed by thermotropic smectic-A liquid crystals, resembling the myelin figures of lyotropic lamellar liquid crystals. The thermotropic myelin structures form during the solubilization of a smectic-A droplet in an aqueous phase containing a cationic surfactant at concentrations above the critical micelle concentration. Similar to the lyotropic myelin figures, the thermotropic myelins appear in an optical microscope as flexible tube-like structures growing at the smectic/aqueous interface. Polarizing microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy show that the smectic layers are parallel to the tube surface and form a cylindrically bent arrangement around a central line defect in the tube. We study the growth behavior of this new type of myelins and discuss similarities and differences to the classical lyotropic myelin figures.

Fast-response IR spatial light modulators with a polymer network liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Fenglin; Chen, Haiwei; Tripathi, Suvagata; Twieg, Robert J.; Wu, Shin-Tson

2015-03-01

Liquid crystals (LC) have widespread applications for amplitude modulation (e.g. flat panel displays) and phase modulation (e.g. beam steering). For phase modulation, a 2π phase modulo is required. To extend the electro-optic application into infrared region (MWIR and LWIR), several key technical challenges have to be overcome: 1. low absorption loss, 2. high birefringence, 3. low operation voltage, and 4. fast response time. After three decades of extensive development, an increasing number of IR devices adopting LC technology have been demonstrated, such as liquid crystal waveguide, laser beam steering at 1.55μm and 10.6 μm, spatial light modulator in the MWIR (3~5μm) band, dynamic scene projectors for infrared seekers in the LWIR (8~12μm) band. However, several fundamental molecular vibration bands and overtones exist in the MWIR and LWIR regions, which contribute to high absorption coefficient and hinder its widespread application. Therefore, the inherent absorption loss becomes a major concern for IR devices. To suppress IR absorption, several approaches have been investigated: 1) Employing thin cell gap by choosing a high birefringence liquid crystal mixture; 2) Shifting the absorption bands outside the spectral region of interest by deuteration, fluorination and chlorination; 3) Reducing the overlap vibration bands by using shorter alkyl chain compounds. In this paper, we report some chlorinated LC compounds and mixtures with a low absorption loss in the near infrared and MWIR regions. To achieve fast response time, we have demonstrated a polymer network liquid crystal with 2π phase change at MWIR and response time less than 5 ms.

A swing driven by liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Cheng

Angular momentum in liquid crystals exists as flow, director reorientation, etc. However, it is hard to observe and measure angular momentum in liquid crystals by a direct mechanical approach. Torsion pendulum is a general tool to measure angular momentum by torque balance. Our torsion pendulum can harvest the angular momentum in liquid crystals to make it observable. The oscillation of the pendulum keeps increasing by constructively adding a small angular momentum of liquid crystals each period at the resonant frequency of the pendulum. Its similar to a swing driven by a force at its resonant frequency. For the torsion pendulum, a cage made of two aluminum discs, in which a liquid crystal cell is placed, is suspended between two thin tungsten wires. A gold mirror, which is a part of the optical lever system, is attached on one tungsten wire. As first demonstration, we fabricate a circular hybrid liquid crystal cell, which can induce concentric backflows to generate angular momentum. The alignment on the planar substrate is concentric and tangential. Due to the coupling between director rotation and flow, the induced backflow goes around the cell when we add electrical pulses between top and bottom substrates. The oscillation is observed by a position sensitive detector and analyzed on the basis of Eriksen-Leslie theory. With vacuum condition and synchronous driving system, the oscillation signal is improved. We demonstrate that this torsion pendulum can sensitively detect the angular momentum in liquid crystals.

Kerr effect in the isotropic phase of a side-chain polymeric liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reys, V.; Dormoy, Y.; Collin, D.; Keller, P.; Martinoty, P.

1992-02-01

The birefringence induced by a pulsed electrical field was used to study the pretransitional effects associated with the isotropic phase of a side-chain polysiloxane. The results obtained show that these effects are characterised by a conventional value of the static exponent and an abnormal value of the dynamic exponent, which shows that the dynamic theory of low molecular weight liquid crystals does not apply. The results also reveal competition between the dipolar moments induced by the electrical field and the permanent moments of the mesogenic molecules. La biréfringence induite par un champ électrique impulsionnel a été utilisée pour étudier les effets prétransitionnels associés à la phase isotrope d'un polysiloxane à chaînes latérales. Les résultats obtenus montrent que ces effets sont caractérisés par une valeur classique de l'exposant statique et une valeur anormale de l'exposant dynamique. Ce dernier résultat montre que la théorie dynamique des cristaux liquides de bas poids moléculaire n'est pas applicable au cas présent. Les expériences mettent également en évidence une compétition entre les moments dipolaires induits par le champ électrique et les moments permanents des molécules mésogènes.

Spontaneous liquid crystal and ferromagnetic ordering of colloidal magnetic nanoplates

PubMed Central

Shuai, M.; Klittnick, A.; Shen, Y.; Smith, G. P.; Tuchband, M. R.; Zhu, C.; Petschek, R. G.; Mertelj, A.; Lisjak, D.; Čopič, M.; Maclennan, J. E.; Glaser, M. A.; Clark, N. A.

2016-01-01

Ferrofluids are familiar as colloidal suspensions of ferromagnetic nanoparticles in aqueous or organic solvents. The dispersed particles are randomly oriented but their moments become aligned if a magnetic field is applied, producing a variety of exotic and useful magnetomechanical effects. A longstanding interest and challenge has been to make such suspensions macroscopically ferromagnetic, that is having uniform magnetic alignment in the absence of a field. Here we report a fluid suspension of magnetic nanoplates that spontaneously aligns into an equilibrium nematic liquid crystal phase that is also macroscopically ferromagnetic. Its zero-field magnetization produces distinctive magnetic self-interaction effects, including liquid crystal textures of fluid block domains arranged in closed flux loops, and makes this phase highly sensitive, with it dramatically changing shape even in the Earth's magnetic field. PMID:26817823

Switching of liquid crystal devices between reflective and transmissive modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Hui-Chi; Wang, Chih-Hung

Transflective liquid crystal displays (LCD) are commonly known that each pixel is divided into reflective (R) and transmissive (T) subpixels. The R mode uses ambient light, while the T mode utilizes a backlight to display images. However, the division of the pixel decreases the light efficiency and the resolution. This study demonstrates a gelator-doped liquid crystal (LC) devices, that is switchable between R and T modes, without sub-pixel division. The R and T modes are designed to have bend configurations with phase retardation of π/2 and π, respectively. The phase retardation of a LC device can be varied and fixed by the thermoreversible association and dissociation of the gelator molecules. It is believed that the proposed device is a potential candidate for portable information systems.

Comparing two tetraalkylammonium ionic liquids. II. Phase transitions.

PubMed

Lima, Thamires A; Paschoal, Vitor H; Faria, Luiz F O; Ribeiro, Mauro C C; Ferreira, Fabio F; Costa, Fanny N; Giles, Carlos

2016-06-14

Phase transitions of the ionic liquids n-butyl-trimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, [N1114][NTf2], and methyl-tributylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, [N1444][NTf2], were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD and Raman spectra were obtained as a function of temperature at atmospheric pressure, and also under high pressure at room temperature using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). [N1444][NTf2] experiences glass transition at low temperature, whereas [N1114][NTf2] crystallizes or not depending on the cooling rate. Both the ionic liquids exhibit glass transition under high pressure. XRD and low-frequency Raman spectra provide a consistent physical picture of structural ordering-disordering accompanying the thermal events of crystallization, glass transition, cold crystallization, pre-melting, and melting. Raman spectra in the high-frequency range of some specific cation and anion normal modes reveal conformational changes of the molecular structures along phase transitions.

Electroclinic effect in the chiral lamellar α phase of a lyotropic liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harjung, Marc D.; Giesselmann, Frank

2018-03-01

In thermotropic chiral Sm -A* phases, an electric field along the smectic layers breaks the D∞ symmetry of the Sm -A* phase and induces a tilt of the liquid crystal director. This so-called electroclinic effect (ECE) was first reported by Garoff and Meyer in 1977 and attracted substantial scientific and technological interest due to its linear and submicrosecond electro-optic response [S. Garoff and R. B. Meyer, Phys. Rev. A 19, 338 (1979), 10.1103/PhysRevA.19.338]. We now report the observation of an ECE in the pretransitional regime from a lyotropic chiral lamellar Lα* phase into a lyo-Sm -C* phase, the lyotropic analog to the thermotropic Sm -C* phase which was recently discovered by Bruckner et al. [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 8934 (2013), 10.1002/anie.201303344]. We further show that the observed ECE has all signatures of its thermotropic counterpart, namely (i) the effect is chiral in nature and vanishes in the racemic Lα phase, (ii) the effect is essentially linear in the sign and magnitude of the electric field, and (iii) the magnitude of the effect diverges hyperbolically as the temperature approaches the critical temperature of the second order tilting transition. Specific deviations between the ECEs in chiral lamellar and chiral smectic phases are related to the internal field screening effect of electric double layers formed by inevitable ionic impurities in lyotropic phases.

A Deuterium NMR Study of Bent-Core Liquid Crystals. 1; Synthesis and Characterization of Deuterium-Labeled Oxadiazole-Containing Liquid Crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dingemans, Theo J.; Madsen, Louis A.; Samulski, Edward T.; Bushnell, Dennis M. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We have synthesized two deuterated boomerang-shaped liquid crystals based on 2,5-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (ODBP). Deuterium was introduced in the rigid 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole core and in the aromatic ring of the terminal 4-dodecyloxyphenyl moiety using standard acid catalyzed deuterium exchange conditions. Both compounds, ([4,4'(1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl-d4)] di-4-dodecyloxybenzoate: ODBP-d4-Ph-O-C12) and ([4,4'(1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl)] di-4-dodecyloxy-benzoate-d4; ODBP-Ph-d4-O-C12) were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance, optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The optical textures and thermal behavior of both compounds were found to be identical to the non-deuterated analog [4,4(1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl)] di-4-dodecyloxybenzoate (ODBP-Ph-O-C12) which we reported earlier. These compounds exhibit behavior indicative of a biaxial nematic liquid crystal phase, which we hope to confirm using deuterium NMR spectroscopy in the next phase of this study.

Liquid Crystal Based Optical Phased Array for Steering Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

profile into the liquid crystal cell, the first step is to characterize the LC cell’s OPD curve with respect to the ramped voltage by a simple one...corresponding voltage value on the OPD vs. 22 Voltage curve , the first entry voltage profile of a positive or negative micro-lens can be thereby...Fig. 2.6 Optical path delay (OPD) profile of ideal objective positive (blue curve ) and negative (green curve ) lens with 552 μm radius, no

Recent advances in IR liquid crystal spatial light modulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Fenglin; Twieg, Robert J.; Wu, Shin-Tson

2015-09-01

Liquid crystal (LC) is an amazing class of electro-optic media; its applications span from visible to infrared, millimeter wave, and terahertz regions. In the visible and short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) regions, most LCs are highly transparent. However, to extend the electro-optic application of LCs into MWIR and LWIR, several key technical challenges have to be overcome: (1) low absorption loss, (2) high birefringence, (3) low operation voltage, and (4) fast response time. In the MWIR and LWIR regions, several fundamental molecular vibration bands and overtones exist, which contribute to high absorption loss. The absorbed light turns to heat and then alters the birefringence locally, which in turns causes spatially non-uniform phase modulation. To suppress the optical loss, several approaches have been investigated: (1) Employing thin cell gap by choosing a high birefringence LC mixture; (2) Shifting the absorption bands outside the spectral region of interest by deuteration, fluorination, or chlorination; (3) Reducing the overtone absorption by using a short alkyl chain. In this paper, we report some recently developed chlorinated LC compounds and mixtures with low absorption loss in the SWIR and MWIR regions. To achieve fast response time, we demonstrated a polymer network liquid crystal with 2π phase change at MWIR and response time less than 5 ms. Approaches to extend such a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to long-wavelength infrared will be discussed.

Polymer dispersed nematic liquid crystal for large area displays and light valves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drzaic, Paul S.

1986-09-01

A new electro-optical material based on nematic liquid crystal dispersed in a polymer matrix has recently been introduced by Fergason. This technology (termed NCAP, for nematic curvilinear aligned phase) is suitable for making very large area (thousands of square centimeter) light valves and displays. The device consists of micron size droplets of liquid crystal dispersed in and surrounded by a polymer film. Light passing through the film in the absence of an applied field is strongly forward scattered, giving a milky, translucent film. Application of an electric field across the liquid crystal/polymer film places the film in a highly transparent state. Pleochroic dyes may be employed in the system in order to achieve controllable light absorption as well as scattering. Microscopically, it is shown that the liquid-crystal director lies preferentially parallel to the polymer wall, leading to a bipolar-like configuration of the liquid-crystal directors within the droplet. The symmetry axes of the droplets are randomly oriented in the unpowered, scattering state, but align parallel to the field in the powered, transparent state. The electric field required to reorient a given droplet varies inversely with the diameter of that droplet, and it is shown that the macroscopic electro-optical properties of the film can be modeled if the distribution of liquid-crystal droplet sizes is known.

Unfound Associated Resonant Model and Its Impact on Response of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance in the Liquid Phase.

PubMed

Kang, Qi; Shen, Qirui; Zhang, Ping; Wang, Honghai; Sun, Yan; Shen, Dazhong

2018-02-20

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is an important tool to detect in real time the mass change at the nanogram level. However, for a QCM operated in the liquid phase, the Sauerbrey equation is usually disturbed by the changes in liquid properties and the longitudinal wave effect. Herein, we report another unfound associated high-frequency resonance (HFR) model for the QCM, with the intensity 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of the fundamental peak in the liquid phase. The HFR model exhibits obvious impact on the response of QCM in the thickness-shear model (TSM), especially for overtones. The frequency of HFR peak is decreased dramatically with increasing conductivity or permittivity of the liquid phase, resulting in considerable additional frequency shifts in the TSM as baseline drift. Compared to that with a faraway HFR peak, the overlapping of HFR peak to a TSM overtone results in the frequency shifts of ±50-70 kHz with its intensity enhancement by 3 orders of magnitude in the later. The HFR behavior is explained by an equivalent circuit model including leading wire inductance, liquid inductance, and static capacitance of QCM. Taking into account the HFR model, the positive frequency shifts of the QCM at high overtones during the cell adhesion process is understandable. Combining the TSM and HFR is an effective way to improve the stability of QCM and provides more reliable information from the responses of QCM. The HFR may have potential application in chemical and biological sensors.

2D-crystallization of Rhodococcus 20S proteasome at the liquid-liquid interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoyama, Kazuhiro

1996-10-01

The 2D-crystallization method using the liquid-liquid interface between a aqueous phase (protein solution) and a thin organic liquid (dehydroabietylamine) layer has been applied to the Rhodococcus 20S proteasome. The 20S proteasome is known to be the core complex of the 26S proteasome, which is the central protease of the ubiquitin-dependent pathway. Two types of ordered arrays were obtained, both large enough for high resolution analysis by electron crystallography. The first one had a four-fold symmetry, whereas the second one was found out to be a hexagonally close-packed array. By image analysis based on a real space correlation averaging (CAV) technique, the close-packed array was found to be hexagonally packed, but the molecules had presumably rotational freedom. The four-fold array was found to be a true crystal with p4 symmetry. Lattice constants were a = b = 20.0 nm and α = 90°. The unit cell of this crystal contained two molecules. The diffraction pattern computed from the original picture showed spots up to (4, 5) that corresponds to 3.1 nm resolution. After applying an unbending procedure, the diffraction pattern showed spots extending to 1.8 nm resolution.

Laser-Directed Hierarchical Assembly of Liquid Crystal Defects and Control of Optical Phase Singularities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ackerman, P. J.; Qi, Z. Y.; Lin, Y. H.

2012-06-07

Topological defect lines are ubiquitous and important in a wide variety of fascinating phenomena and theories in many fields ranging from materials science to early-universe cosmology, and to engineering of laser beams. However, they are typically hard to control in a reliable manner. Here we describe facile erasable 'optical drawing' of self-assembled defect clusters in liquid crystals. These quadrupolar defect clusters, stabilized by the medium's chirality and the tendency to form twisted configurations, are shaped into arbitrary two-dimensional patterns, including reconfigurable phase gratings capable of generating and controlling optical phase singularities in laser beams. Our findings bridge the studies ofmore » defects in condensed matter physics and optics and may enable applications in data storage, singular optics, displays, electro-optic devices, diffraction gratings, as well as in both optically- and electrically-addressed pixel-free spatial light modulators.« less

Lyotropic liquid crystalline phase behaviour in amphiphile-protic ionic liquid systems.

PubMed

Chen, Zhengfei; Greaves, Tamar L; Fong, Celesta; Caruso, Rachel A; Drummond, Calum J

2012-03-21

Approximate partial phase diagrams for nine amphiphile-protic ionic liquid (PIL) systems have been determined by synchrotron source small angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry and cross polarised optical microscopy. The binary phase diagrams of some common cationic (hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium chloride, CTAC, and hexadecylpyridinium bromide, HDPB) and nonionic (polyoxyethylene (10) oleyl ether, Brij 97, and Pluronic block copolymer, P123) amphiphiles with the PILs, ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), ethanolammonium nitrate (EOAN) and diethanolammonium formate (DEOAF), have been studied. The phase diagrams were constructed for concentrations from 10 wt% to 80 wt% amphiphile, in the temperature range 25 °C to >100 °C. Lyotropic liquid crystalline phases (hexagonal, cubic and lamellar) were formed at high surfactant concentrations (typically >50 wt%), whereas at <40 wt%, only micelles or polydisperse crystals were present. With the exception of Brij 97, the thermal stability of the phases formed by these surfactants persisted to temperatures above 100 °C. The phase behaviour of amphiphile-PIL systems was interpreted by considering the PIL cohesive energy, liquid nanoscale order, polarity and ionicity. For comparison the phase behaviour of the four amphiphiles was also studied in water.

A 106-fold enhancement in the conductivity of a discotic liquid crystal doped with only 1% (w/w) gold nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holt, Lucy A.; Bushby, Richard J.; Evans, Stephen D.; Burgess, Andrew; Seeley, Gordon

2008-03-01

The presence of 1% (w/w) of methylbenzene thiol coated gold nanoparticles increases the conductivity of the discotic liquid crystal 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakis(hexyloxy)triphenylene (HAT6) by about two orders of magnitude in all three phases (crystal, columnar liquid crystal, and isotropic liquid). However, when a field (above a certain critical value) is applied to the isotropic phase, the conductivity rapidly increases by another three or four orders of magnitude after which the higher conductivity is maintained regardless of phase, field, or temperature. This increase in conductivity is attributed to the formation of chains of gold nanoparticles. A similar phenomenon is observed for 1% (w/w) gold nanoparticles in the isotropic phase of hexadecane. However, the liquid crystal/nanoparticle mixture preserves its high conductivity when it is cooled into the crystalline phase whereas that of the hexadecane/nanoparticle mixture is lost. In hexadecane, crystal grain boundaries are expected to form in a random fashion and this disrupts the conductive pathways. However, if HAT6 crystallizes via the homeotropically aligned columnar phase, the grain boundaries form predominantly surface to surface (electrode to electrode) so that the conductive nanoparticle chains are trapped in a stabilizing solid matrix.

Smectic layer instabilities in liquid crystals.

PubMed

Dierking, Ingo; Mitov, Michel; Osipov, Mikhail A

2015-02-07

Scientists aspire to understand the underlying physics behind the formation of instabilities in soft matter and how to manipulate them for diverse investigations, while engineers aim to design materials that inhibit or impede the nucleation and growth of these instabilities in critical applications. The present paper reviews the field-induced rotational instabilities which may occur in chiral smectic liquid-crystalline layers when subjected to an asymmetric electric field. Such instabilities destroy the so-named bookshelf geometry (in which the smectic layers are normal to the cell surfaces) and have a detrimental effect on all applications of ferroelectric liquid crystals as optical materials. The transformation of the bookshelf geometry into horizontal chevron structures (in which each layer is in a V-shaped structure), and the reorientation dynamics of these chevrons, are discussed in details with respect to the electric field conditions, the material properties and the boundary conditions. Particular attention is given to the polymer-stabilisation of smectic phases as a way to forbid the occurrence of instabilities and the decline of related electro-optical performances. It is also shown which benefit may be gained from layer instabilities to enhance the alignment of the liquid-crystalline geometry in practical devices, such as optical recording by ferroelectric liquid crystals. Finally, the theoretical background of layer instabilities is given and discussed in relation to the experimental data.

Spontaneous liquid crystal and ferromagnetic ordering of colloidal magnetic nanoplates

DOE PAGES

Shuai, M.; Klittnick, A.; Shen, Y.; ...

2016-01-28

Ferrofluids are familiar as colloidal suspensions of ferromagnetic nanoparticles in aqueous or organic solvents. The dispersed particles are randomly oriented but their moments become aligned if a magnetic field is applied, producing a variety of exotic and useful magnetomechanical effects. A longstanding interest and challenge has been to make such suspensions macroscopically ferromagnetic, that is having uniform magnetic alignment in the absence of a field. Here we report a fluid suspension of magnetic nanoplates that spontaneously aligns into an equilibrium nematic liquid crystal phase that is also macroscopically ferromagnetic. We find Its zero-field magnetization produces distinctive magnetic self-interaction effects, includingmore » liquid crystal textures of fluid block domains arranged in closed flux loops, and makes this phase highly sensitive, with it dramatically changing shape even in the Earth’s magnetic field.« less

Low-Temperature Growth of Two-Dimensional Layered Chalcogenide Crystals on Liquid.

PubMed

Zhou, Yubing; Deng, Bing; Zhou, Yu; Ren, Xibiao; Yin, Jianbo; Jin, Chuanhong; Liu, Zhongfan; Peng, Hailin

2016-03-09

The growth of high-quality two-dimensional (2D) layered chalcogenide crystals is highly important for practical applications in future electronics, optoelectronics, and photonics. Current route for the synthesis of 2D chalcogenide crystals by vapor deposition method mainly involves an energy intensive high-temperature growth process on solid substrates, often suffering from inhomogeneous nucleation density and grain size distribution. Here, we first demonstrate a facile vapor-phase synthesis of large-area high-quality 2D layered chalcogenide crystals on liquid metal surface with relatively low surface energy at a growth temperature as low as ∼100 °C. Uniform and large-domain-sized 2D crystals of GaSe and GaxIn1-xSe were grown on liquid metal surface even supported on a polyimide film. As-grown 2D GaSe crystals have been fabricated to flexible photodetectors, showing high photoresponse and excellent flexibility. Our strategy of energy-sustainable low-temperature growth on liquid metal surface may open a route to the synthesis of high-quality 2D crystals of Ga-, In-, Bi-, Hg-, Pb-, or Sn-based chalcogenides and halides.

Liquid crystal devices especially for use in liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, Kenneth L. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

Liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer (LCPDI) systems that can provide real-time, phase-shifting interferograms that are useful in the characterization of static optical properties (wavefront aberrations, lensing, or wedge) in optical elements or dynamic, time-resolved events (temperature fluctuations and gradients, motion) in physical systems use improved LCPDI cells that employ a "structured" substrate or substrates in which the structural features are produced by thin film deposition or photo resist processing to provide a diffractive element that is an integral part of the cell substrate(s). The LC material used in the device may be doped with a "contrast-compensated" mixture of positive and negative dichroic dyes.

Liquid crystal devices especially for use in liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer systems

DOEpatents

Marshall, Kenneth L [Rochester, NY

2009-02-17

Liquid crystal point diffraction interferometer (LCPDI) systems that can provide real-time, phase-shifting interferograms that are useful in the characterization of static optical properties (wavefront aberrations, lensing, or wedge) in optical elements or dynamic, time-resolved events (temperature fluctuations and gradients, motion) in physical systems use improved LCPDI cells that employ a "structured" substrate or substrates in which the structural features are produced by thin film deposition or photo resist processing to provide a diffractive element that is an integral part of the cell substrate(s). The LC material used in the device may be doped with a "contrast-compensated" mixture of positive and negative dichroic dyes.

Self-assembly and electrostriction of arrays and chains of hopfion particles in chiral liquid crystals

PubMed Central

Ackerman, Paul J.; van de Lagemaat, Jao; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2015-01-01

Some of the most exotic condensed matter phases, such as twist grain boundary and blue phases in liquid crystals and Abrikosov phases in superconductors, contain arrays of topological defects in their ground state. Comprised of a triangular lattice of double-twist tubes of magnetization, the so-called ‘A-phase’ in chiral magnets is an example of a thermodynamically stable phase with topologically nontrivial solitonic field configurations referred to as two-dimensional skyrmions, or baby-skyrmions. Here we report that three-dimensional skyrmions in the form of double-twist tori called ‘hopfions’, or ‘torons’ when accompanied by additional self-compensating defects, self-assemble into periodic arrays and linear chains that exhibit electrostriction. In confined chiral nematic liquid crystals, this self-assembly is similar to that of liquid crystal colloids and originates from long-range elastic interactions between particle-like skyrmionic torus knots of molecular alignment field, which can be tuned from isotropic repulsive to weakly or highly anisotropic attractive by low-voltage electric fields. PMID:25607778

Self-Assembly and Electrostriction of Arrays and Chains of Hopfion Particles in Chiral Liquid Crystals

DOE PAGES

Ackerman, P. J.; van de Lagemaat, J.; Smalyukh, I. I.

2015-01-21

Some of the most exotic condensed matter phases, such as twist grain boundary and blue phases in liquid crystals and Abrikosov phases in superconductors, contain arrays of topological defects in their ground state. Comprised of a triangular lattice of double-twist tubes of magnetization, the so-called ‘A-phase’ in chiral magnets is an example of a thermodynamically stable phase with topologically nontrivial solitonic field configurations referred to as two-dimensional skyrmions, or baby-skyrmions. Here we report that three-dimensional skyrmions in the form of double-twist tori called ‘hopfions’, or ‘torons’ when accompanied by additional self-compensating defects, self-assemble into periodic arrays and linear chains thatmore » exhibit electrostriction. In confined chiral nematic liquid crystals, this self-assembly is similar to that of liquid crystal colloids and originates from long-range elastic interactions between particle-like skyrmionic torus knots of molecular alignment field, which can be tuned from isotropic repulsive to weakly or highly anisotropic attractive by low-voltage electric fields.« less

Graphene oxide liquid crystals: synthesis, phase transition, rheological property, and applications in optoelectronics and display.

PubMed

Lin, Feng; Tong, Xin; Wang, Yanan; Bao, Jiming; Wang, Zhiming M

2015-12-01

Graphene oxide (GO) liquid crystals (LCs) are macroscopically ordered GO flakes dispersed in water or polar organic solvents. Since the first report in 2011, GO LCs have attracted considerable attention for their basic properties and potential device applications. In this review, we summarize recent developments and present a comprehensive understanding of GO LCs via many aspects ranging from the exfoliation of GO flakes from graphite, to phases and phase transitions under various conditions, the orientational responses of GO under external magnetic and electric fields, and finally Kerr effect and display applications. The emphasis is placed on the unique and basic properties of GO and their ordered assembly. We will also discuss challenges and issues that need to be overcome in order to gain a more fundamental understanding and exploit full device potentials of GO LCs.

The Connection Between Local Icosahedral Order in Metallic Liquids and the Nucleation of Ordered Phases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curreri, Peter A. (Technical Monitor); Kelton, K. F.; Gangopadhyay, A.; Lee, G. W.; Hyers, R. W.; Rathz, R. J.; Rogers, J.; Schenk, T.; Simonet, V.; Holland-Moritz, D.

2003-01-01

Over fifty years ago, David Turnbull showed that the temperature of many metallic liquids could be decreased far below their equilibrium melting temperature before crystallization occurred. To explain those surprising results, Charles Frank hypothesized that the local structures of undercooled metallic liquids are different from those of crystal phases, containing a significant degree of icosahedral order that is incompatible with extended periodicity. Such structural differences must create a barrier to the formation crystal phases, explaining the observed undercooling behavior. If true, the nucleation from the liquid of phases with extended icosahedral order should be easier. Icosahedral order is often favored in small clusters, as observed recently in liquid-like clusters of pure Pb on the (111) surface of Si, for example. However, it has never been shown that an increasing preference for icosahedral phase formation can be directly linked with the development of icosahedral order in the undercooled liquid. Owing to the combination of very recent advances in levitation techniques and the availability of synchrotron x-ray and high flux neutron facilities, this is shown here.

The Connection Between Local Icosahedral Order in Metallic Liquids and the Nucleation of Ordered Phases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelton, K. F.; Gangopadhyay, A. K.; Lee, G. W.; Hyers, R. W.; Rathz, T. J.; Rogers, J. R.; Robinson, M. B.; Schenk, T.; Simonet, V.; Holland-Moritz, D.;

Light-melt adhesive based on dynamic carbon frameworks in a columnar liquid-crystal phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Shohei; Nobusue, Shunpei; Tsuzaka, Eri; Yuan, Chunxue; Mori, Chigusa; Hara, Mitsuo; Seki, Takahiro; Camacho, Cristopher; Irle, Stephan; Yamaguchi, Shigehiro

2016-07-01

Liquid crystal (LC) provides a suitable platform to exploit structural motions of molecules in a condensed phase. Amplification of the structural changes enables a variety of technologies not only in LC displays but also in other applications. Until very recently, however, a practical use of LCs for removable adhesives has not been explored, although a spontaneous disorganization of LC materials can be easily triggered by light-induced isomerization of photoactive components. The difficulty of such application derives from the requirements for simultaneous implementation of sufficient bonding strength and its rapid disappearance by photoirradiation. Here we report a dynamic molecular LC material that meets these requirements. Columnar-stacked V-shaped carbon frameworks display sufficient bonding strength even during heating conditions, while its bonding ability is immediately lost by a light-induced self-melting function. The light-melt adhesive is reusable and its fluorescence colour reversibly changes during the cycle, visualizing the bonding/nonbonding phases of the adhesive.

Study of liquid?liquid demixing from drug solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lafferrère, Laurent; Hoff, Christian; Veesler, Stéphane

2004-09-01

In pharmaceutical industry, a deep understanding of the phase diagram is required in design of crystallization processes. We have investigated the phase diagram of a pharmaceutical compound (C 35H 41Cl 2N 3O 2) in a mixture of ethanol/water. This phase diagram exhibits a solid-solid (polymorphism) and a liquid-liquid-phase separation (LLPS) as a function of temperature and drug substance concentration. This study focuses on the LLPS which is metastable with respect to the crystallization of the two polymorphs FI and FII of C 35H 41Cl 2N 3O 2 in an ethanol/water mixture. The LLPS is metastable towards the solubility curve on the whole solvent-solute concentrations and temperature range studied. The LLPS occurred within the metastable zone for crystallization. In our experiments the liquid-liquid-phase transition prevented the drug from crystallizing, while it changed the medium and the conditions of crystallization, which consequently affected the process. The coexistence curves for the liquid phases, also named TL-L boundary, and the spinodal line were measured for a ternary mixture of water-drug-ethanol at atmospheric pressure over a temperature range of 10-50°C. This temperature range corresponds to that used in the crystallization process. Static Light Scattering, HPLC measurements and Karl-Fischer titration were applied to investigate the drug-phase diagram. The isoplethe section of the phase diagram exhibits four regions: one homogeneous (one liquid) and three two-phases (two regions with one liquid+one solid and one region with two liquids), the two solids phases being two polymorphs.

Comparing two tetraalkylammonium ionic liquids. II. Phase transitions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lima, Thamires A.; Paschoal, Vitor H.; Faria, Luiz F. O.

Phase transitions of the ionic liquids n-butyl-trimethylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, [N{sub 1114}][NTf{sub 2}], and methyl-tributylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, [N{sub 1444}][NTf{sub 2}], were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD and Raman spectra were obtained as a function of temperature at atmospheric pressure, and also under high pressure at room temperature using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). [N{sub 1444}][NTf{sub 2}] experiences glass transition at low temperature, whereas [N{sub 1114}][NTf{sub 2}] crystallizes or not depending on the cooling rate. Both the ionic liquids exhibit glass transition under high pressure. XRD and low-frequency Raman spectra provide a consistent physical picturemore » of structural ordering-disordering accompanying the thermal events of crystallization, glass transition, cold crystallization, pre-melting, and melting. Raman spectra in the high-frequency range of some specific cation and anion normal modes reveal conformational changes of the molecular structures along phase transitions.« less

Magneto-optic dynamics in a ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potisk, Tilen; Mertelj, Alenka; Sebastián, Nerea; Osterman, Natan; Lisjak, Darja; Brand, Helmut R.; Pleiner, Harald; Svenšek, Daniel

2018-01-01

We investigate dynamic magneto-optic effects in a ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal experimentally and theoretically. Experimentally we measure the magnetization and the phase difference of the transmitted light when an external magnetic field is applied. As a model we study the coupled dynamics of the magnetization, M , and the director field, n , associated with the liquid crystalline orientational order. We demonstrate that the experimentally studied macroscopic dynamic behavior reveals the importance of a dynamic cross-coupling between M and n . The experimental data are used to extract the value of the dissipative cross-coupling coefficient. We also make concrete predictions about how reversible cross-coupling terms between the magnetization and the director could be detected experimentally by measurements of the transmitted light intensity as well as by analyzing the azimuthal angle of the magnetization and the director out of the plane spanned by the anchoring axis and the external magnetic field. We derive the eigenmodes of the coupled system and study their relaxation rates. We show that in the usual experimental setup used for measuring the relaxation rates of the splay-bend or twist-bend eigenmodes of a nematic liquid crystal one expects for a ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal a mixture of at least two eigenmodes.

Chiral liquid crystal colloids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Ye; Martinez, Angel; Senyuk, Bohdan; Tasinkevych, Mykola; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2018-01-01

Colloidal particles disturb the alignment of rod-like molecules of liquid crystals, giving rise to long-range interactions that minimize the free energy of distorted regions. Particle shape and topology are known to guide this self-assembly process. However, how chirality of colloidal inclusions affects these long-range interactions is unclear. Here we study the effects of distortions caused by chiral springs and helices on the colloidal self-organization in a nematic liquid crystal using laser tweezers, particle tracking and optical imaging. We show that chirality of colloidal particles interacts with the nematic elasticity to predefine chiral or racemic colloidal superstructures in nematic colloids. These findings are consistent with numerical modelling based on the minimization of Landau-de Gennes free energy. Our study uncovers the role of chirality in defining the mesoscopic order of liquid crystal colloids, suggesting that this feature may be a potential tool to modulate the global orientated self-organization of these systems.

A Low Voltage Liquid Crystal Phase Grating with Switchable Diffraction Angles

PubMed Central

Chen, Haiwei; Tan, Guanjun; Huang, Yuge; Weng, Yishi; Choi, Tae-Hoon; Yoon, Tae-Hoon; Wu, Shin-Tson

2017-01-01

We demonstrate a simple yet high performance phase grating with switchable diffraction angles using a fringe field switching (FFS) liquid crystal (LC) cell. The LC rubbing angle is parallel to the FFS electrodes (i.e. α = 0°), leading to symmetric LC director distribution in a voltage-on state. Such a grating exhibits three unique features: 1) Two grating periods can be formed by controlling the applied voltage, resulting in switchable diffraction angles. In our design, the 1st diffraction order occurs at 4.3°, while the 2nd order appears at 8.6°. 2) The required voltage to achieve peak diffraction efficiency (η~32%) for the 1st order is only 4.4 V at λ = 633 nm as compared to 70 V for a conventional FFS-based phase grating in which α ≈ 7°, while the 2nd order (η~27%) is 15 V. 3). The measured rise and decay time for the 1st order is 7.62 ms and 6.75 ms, and for the 2nd order is 0.75 ms and 3.87 ms, respectively. To understand the physical mechanisms, we also perform device simulations. Good agreement between experiment and simulation is obtained. PMID:28054592

Smart window using a thermally and optically switchable liquid crystal cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Seung-Won; Kim, Sang-Hyeok; Baek, Jong-Min; Yoon, Tae-Hoon

2018-02-01

Light shutter technologies that can control optical transparency have been studied extensively for developing curtain-free smart windows. We introduce thermally and optically switchable light shutters using LCs doped with push-pull azobenzene, which is known to speed up thermal relaxation. The liquid crystal light shutter can be switched between translucent and transparent states or transparent and opaque states by phase transition through changing temperature or photo-isomerization of doped azobenzene. The liquid crystal light shutter can be used for privacy windows with an initial translucent state or energy-saving windows with an initial transparent state.

Visible light high-resolution imaging system for large aperture telescope by liquid crystal adaptive optics with phase diversity technique.

PubMed

Xu, Zihao; Yang, Chengliang; Zhang, Peiguang; Zhang, Xingyun; Cao, Zhaoliang; Mu, Quanquan; Sun, Qiang; Xuan, Li

2017-08-30

There are more than eight large aperture telescopes (larger than eight meters) equipped with adaptive optics system in the world until now. Due to the limitations such as the difficulties of increasing actuator number of deformable mirror, most of them work in the infrared waveband. A novel two-step high-resolution optical imaging approach is proposed by applying phase diversity (PD) technique to the open-loop liquid crystal adaptive optics system (LC AOS) for visible light high-resolution adaptive imaging. Considering the traditional PD is not suitable for LC AOS, the novel PD strategy is proposed which can reduce the wavefront estimating error caused by non-modulated light generated by liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC SLM) and make the residual distortions after open-loop correction to be smaller. Moreover, the LC SLM can introduce any aberration which realizes the free selection of phase diversity. The estimating errors are greatly reduced in both simulations and experiments. The resolution of the reconstructed image is greatly improved on both subjective visual effect and the highest discernible space resolution. Such technique can be widely used in large aperture telescopes for astronomical observations such as terrestrial planets, quasars and also can be used in other applications related to wavefront correction.

Interface dynamics and crystal phase switching in GaAs nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsson, Daniel; Panciera, Federico; Tersoff, Jerry; Reuter, Mark C.; Lehmann, Sebastian; Hofmann, Stephan; Dick, Kimberly A.; Ross, Frances M.

2016-03-01

Controlled formation of non-equilibrium crystal structures is one of the most important challenges in crystal growth. Catalytically grown nanowires are ideal systems for studying the fundamental physics of phase selection, and could lead to new electronic applications based on the engineering of crystal phases. Here we image gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires during growth as they switch between phases as a result of varying growth conditions. We find clear differences between the growth dynamics of the phases, including differences in interface morphology, step flow and catalyst geometry. We explain these differences, and the phase selection, using a model that relates the catalyst volume, the contact angle at the trijunction (the point at which solid, liquid and vapour meet) and the nucleation site of each new layer of GaAs. This model allows us to predict the conditions under which each phase should be observed, and use these predictions to design GaAs heterostructures. These results could apply to phase selection in other nanowire systems.

Interface dynamics and crystal phase switching in GaAs nanowires.

PubMed

Jacobsson, Daniel; Panciera, Federico; Tersoff, Jerry; Reuter, Mark C; Lehmann, Sebastian; Hofmann, Stephan; Dick, Kimberly A; Ross, Frances M

2016-03-17

Controlled formation of non-equilibrium crystal structures is one of the most important challenges in crystal growth. Catalytically grown nanowires are ideal systems for studying the fundamental physics of phase selection, and could lead to new electronic applications based on the engineering of crystal phases. Here we image gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires during growth as they switch between phases as a result of varying growth conditions. We find clear differences between the growth dynamics of the phases, including differences in interface morphology, step flow and catalyst geometry. We explain these differences, and the phase selection, using a model that relates the catalyst volume, the contact angle at the trijunction (the point at which solid, liquid and vapour meet) and the nucleation site of each new layer of GaAs. This model allows us to predict the conditions under which each phase should be observed, and use these predictions to design GaAs heterostructures. These results could apply to phase selection in other nanowire systems.

Ultraslow Phase Transitions in an Anion-Anion Hydrogen-Bonded Ionic Liquid.

PubMed

Faria, Luiz F O; Lima, Thamires A; Ferreira, Fabio F; Ribeiro, Mauro C C

2018-02-15

A Raman spectroscopy study of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate, [C 2 C 1 im][HSO 4 ], as a function of temperature, has been performed to reveal the role played by anion-anion hydrogen bond on the phase transitions of this ionic liquid. Anion-anion hydrogen bonding implies high viscosity, good glass-forming ability, and also moderate fragility of [C 2 C 1 im][HSO 4 ] in comparison with other ionic liquids. Heating [C 2 C 1 im][HSO 4 ] from the glassy phase results in cold crystallization at ∼245 K. A solid-solid transition (crystal I → crystal II) is barely discernible in calorimetric measurements at typical heating rates, but it is clearly revealed by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Raman spectroscopy indicates that crystal I has extended ([HSO 4 ] - ) n chains of hydrogen-bonded anions but crystal II has not. Raman spectra recorded at isothermal condition show the ultraslow dynamics of cold crystallization, solid-solid transition, and continuous melting of [C 2 C 1 im][HSO 4 ]. A brief comparison is also provided between [C 2 C 1 im][HSO 4 ] and [C 4 C 1 im][HSO 4 ], as Raman spectroscopy shows that the latter does not form the crystalline phase with extended anion-anion chains.

Polypeptide Liquid Crystal Assisted Assembly of Cylindrically Symmetric Silica-Polypeptide Hybrid Microparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, Paul; Rosu, Cornelia; Jacobeen, Shane; Park, Katherine; Yunker, Peter; Reichmanis, Elsa

Liquid crystals can organize dispersed particles into exotic structures. Matching the particle surface coating to the chemistry of the mesogenic phase permits a tight focus on factors such as extended particle shape. The colloidal particles developed for this work consist of a magnetic and fluorescent cylinder-like silica core. One end of the silica is rounded, almost hemispherical, giving the particles a bullet-like shape. These particles are functionalized with helical poly(γ-stearyl-L-glutamate) and dispersed, at different concentrations in cholesteric liquid crystals (ChLC) of the same polymer in tetrahydrofuran. Defects introduced by the particles to the director field of the bulk PSLG/THF host led to a variety of phases, including a quasi-hexagonal alignment of the particles. National Science Foundation.

Highly Polarized Fluorescent Illumination Using Liquid Crystal Phase.

PubMed

Gim, Min-Jun; Turlapati, Srikanth; Debnath, Somen; Rao, Nandiraju V S; Yoon, Dong Ki

2016-02-10

Liquid crystal (LC) materials are currently the dominant electronic materials in display technology because of the ease of control of molecular orientation using an electric field. However, this technology requires the fabrication of two polarizers to create operational displays, reducing light transmission efficiency below 10%. It is therefore desirable to develop new technologies to enhance the light efficiency while maintaining or improving other properties such as the modulation speed of the molecular orientation. Here we report a uniaxial-oriented B7 smectic liquid crystalline film, using fluorescent bent-core LC molecules, a chemically modified substrate, and an in-plane electric field. A LC droplet under homeotropic boundary conditions of air/LC as well as LC/substrate exhibits large focal conic like optical textures. The in-plane electric field induced uniaxial orientation of the LC molecules, in which molecular polar directors are aligned in the direction of the electric field. This highly oriented LC film exhibits linearly polarized luminescence and microsecond time-scale modulation characteristics. The resultant device is both cheap and easy to fabricate and thus has great potential for electro-optic applications, including LC displays, bioimaging systems, and optical communications.

Analysis of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (HPDLCs) for tunable low frequency diffractive optical elements recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández, R.; Gallego, S.; Márquez, A.; Francés, J.; Martínez, F. J.; Pascual, I.; Beléndez, A.

2018-02-01

Holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystals (HPDLCs) are the result of the optimization of the photopolymer fabrication techniques. They are made by recording in a photopolymerization induced phase separation process (PIPS) in which the liquid crystal molecules diffuse to dark zones in the diffraction grating originated. Thanks to the addition of liquid crystal molecules to the composition, this material has a dynamic behavior by reorientation of the liquid crystal molecules applying an electrical field. In this sense, it is possible to use this material to make dynamic devices. In this work, we study the behavior of this material working in low frequencies with different spatial periods of blazed gratings, a sharp profile whose recording is possible thanks to the addition of a Holoeye LCoS-Pluto spatial light modulator with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels (HD) and a pixel size of 8 × 8 μm2. This device allows us to have an accurate and dynamic control of the phase and amplitude of the recording beam.

Liquid crystals for organic transistors (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanna, Jun-ichi; Iino, Hiroaki

2016-09-01

Liquid crystals are a new type of organic semiconductors exhibiting molecular orientation in self-organizing manner, and have high potential for device applications. In fact, various device applications have been proposed so far, including photosensors, solar cells, light emitting diodes, field effect transistors, and so on.. However, device performance in those fabricated with liquid crystals is less than those of devices fabricated with conventional materials in spite of unique features of liquid crystals. Here we discuss how we can utilize the liquid crystallinity in organic transistors and how we can overcome conventional non-liquid crystalline organic transistor materials. Then, we demonstrate high performance organic transistors fabricated with a smectic E liquid crystal of Ph-BTBT-10, which show high mobility of over 10cm2/Vs and high thermal durability of over 200oC in OFETs fabricated with its spin-coated polycrystalline thin films.

Passive Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-12

REPORT Passive Sensor Materials based on Liquid Crystals 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Research supported by this grant entitled “Passive...Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals” revolved around an investigation of liquid crystalline materials for use in passive sensors for chemical... based on Liquid Crystals Report Title ABSTRACT Research supported by this grant entitled “Passive Sensor Materials Based on Liquid Crystals” revolved

Liquid-Crystal Thermosets, a New Generation of High-Performance Liquid-Crystal Polymers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dingemans, Theo; Weiser, Erik; Hou, Tan; Jensen, Brian; St. Clair, Terry

2004-01-01

One of the major challenges for NASA's next-generation reusable-launch-vehicle (RLV) program is the design of a cryogenic lightweight composite fuel tank. Potential matrix resin systems need to exhibit a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), good mechanical strength, and excellent barrier properties at cryogenic temperatures under load. In addition, the resin system needs to be processable by a variety of non-autoclavable techniques, such as vacuum-bag curing, resin-transfer molding (RTM), vacuum-assisted resin-transfer molding (VaRTM), resin-film infusion (RFI), pultrusion, and advanced tow placement (ATP). To meet these requirements, the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch (AMPB) at NASA Langley Research Center developed a new family of wholly aromatic liquid-crystal oligomers that can be processed and thermally cross-linked while maintaining their liquid-crystal order. All the monomers were polymerized in the presence of a cross-linkable unit by use of an environmentally benign melt-condensation technique. This method does not require hazardous solvents, and the only side product is acetic acid. The final product can be obtained as a powder or granulate and has an infinite shelf life. The obtained oligomers melt into a nematic phase and do not exhibit isotropization temperatures greater than the temperatures of decomposition (Ti > T(sub dec)). Three aromatic formulations were designed and tested and included esters, ester-amides, and ester-imides. One of the major advantages of this invention, named LaRC-LCR or Langley Research Center-Liquid Crystal Resin, is the ability to control a variety of resin characteristics, such as melting temperature, viscosity, and the cross-link density of the final part. Depending on the formulation, oligomers can be prepared with melt viscosities in the range of 10-10,000 poise (100 rad/s), which can easily be melt-processed using a variety of composite-processing techniques. This capability provides NASA with custom

Chem I Supplement: Liquid Crystals--The Chameleon Chemicals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Glenn H.

1983-01-01

Presents information relevant to everyday life so as to stimulate student interest in the properties of the two basic types of liquid crystals: thermotropic and lyotropic. Describes the applications of liquid crystals to electronics, biomedicine, and polymer science and appraises the future of liquid crystal research. (JM)

Large Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals Based on Monocrystalline Liquid Crystal Blue Phases (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-28

5192 (2011). 39. Shi, Y., Mo, J., Wei, J. & Guo, J. Chiral assembly and plasmonic response of silver nanoparticles in a three-dimensional blue-phase... synthesis of a silicon photonic crystal with a complete three-dimensional bandgap near 1.5 µm. Nature 405, 437–440 (2000). 3. Arsenault, A. et al

Calorimetric study of phase transitions in nanocomposites of quantum dots and a liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalakonda, P.; Iannacchione, G. S.

2015-06-01

The complex specific heat is measured over a wide temperature range for the liquid crystal (LC) 4-cyano-4-octylbiphenyl (8CB) and cadmium sulfate quantum dots (QDs) composites as a function of QD concentration. The thermal scans were performed under near-equilibrium conditions for all samples having QDs weight percent (φw) from 0 to 3wt% over a wide range of temperature well above and below the two transitions in pure 8CB. Isotropic (I) to nematic (N) and nematic to smectic-A (SmA) phase transitions evolve in character and their transition temperatures offset by (∼2.3 to 2.6 K) lower for all composite samples as compared to that in pure 8CB. The enthalpy change associated with I-N phase transitions shows slightly different behavior on heating and cooling and it also shows crossover behavior at lower and higher QD content. The enthalpy change associated with N-SmA phase transitions is independent of QD loading and thermal treatment. Given the homogeneous and random distribution of QD in these nanocomposites, we interpret that these results as arising that the nematic phase imposes self-assembly on QDs to form one-dimensional arrays leading to QDs and induces net local disordering effect in LC media.

Lecithin based lamellar liquid crystals as a physiologically acceptable dermal delivery system for ascorbyl palmitate.

PubMed

Gosenca, Mirjam; Bešter-Rogač, Marija; Gašperlin, Mirjana

2013-09-27

Liquid crystalline systems with a lamellar structure have been extensively studied as dermal delivery systems. Ascorbyl palmitate (AP) is one of the most studied and used ascorbic acid derivatives and is employed as an antioxidant to prevent skin aging. The aim of this study was to develop and characterize skin-compliant dermal delivery systems with a liquid crystalline structure for AP. First, a pseudoternary phase diagram was constructed using Tween 80/lecithin/isopropyl myristate/water at a Tween 80/lecithin mass ratio of 1/1, and the region of lamellar liquid crystals was identified. Second, selected unloaded and AP-loaded lamellar liquid crystal systems were physicochemically characterized with polarizing optical microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, and rheology techniques. The interlayer spacing and rheological parameters differ regarding quantitative composition, whereas the microstructure of the lamellar phase was affected by the AP incorporation, resulting either in additional micellar structures (at 25 and 32 °C) or being completely destroyed at higher temperature (37°C). After this, the study was oriented towards in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of lamellar liquid crystal systems on a keratinocyte cell line. The results suggest that the lamellar liquid crystals that were developed could be used as a physiologically acceptable dermal delivery system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Connection Between Local Icosahedral Order in Metallic Liquids and the Nucleation Behavior of Ordered Phases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelton, K. F.; Gangopadhyay, A. K.; Lee, G. W.; Hyers, R. W.; Rathz, T. J.; Rogers, J. R.; Robinson, M. B.; Schenk, T.; Simonet, V.

2003-01-01

Over fifty years ago, David Turnbull showed that the temperature of many metallic liquids could be decreased far below their equilibrium melting temperature before crystallization occurred. To explain those surprising results, Charles Frank hypothesized that the local structures of undercooled metallic liquids are different from those of crystal phases, containing a significant degree of icosahedral order that is incompatible with extended periodicity. Such structural differences must create a barrier to the formation crystal phases, explaining the observed undercooling behavior. If true, the nucleation from the liquid of phases with extended icosahedral order should be easier. Icosahedral order is often favored in small clusters, as observed recently in liquid-like clusters of pure Pb on the (111) surface of Si[3], for example. However, it has never been shown that an increasing preference for icosahedral phase formation can be directly linked with the development of icosahedral order in the undercooled liquid. Owing to the combination of very recent advances in levitation techniques and the availability of synchrotron x-ray and high flux neutron facilities, this is shown here.

Liquid crystals of carbon nanotubes and graphene.

PubMed

Zakri, Cécile; Blanc, Christophe; Grelet, Eric; Zamora-Ledezma, Camilo; Puech, Nicolas; Anglaret, Eric; Poulin, Philippe

2013-04-13

Liquid crystal ordering is an opportunity to develop novel materials and applications with spontaneously aligned nanotubes or graphene particles. Nevertheless, achieving high orientational order parameter and large monodomains remains a challenge. In addition, our restricted knowledge of the structure of the currently available materials is a limitation for fundamental studies and future applications. This paper presents recent methodologies that have been developed to achieve large monodomains of nematic liquid crystals. These allow quantification and increase of their order parameters. Nematic ordering provides an efficient way to prepare conductive films that exhibit anisotropic properties. In particular, it is shown how the electrical conductivity anisotropy increases with the order parameter of the nematic liquid crystal. The order parameter can be tuned by controlling the length and entanglement of the nanotubes. In the second part of the paper, recent results on graphene liquid crystals are reported. The possibility to obtain water-based liquid crystals stabilized by surfactant molecules is demonstrated. Structural and thermodynamic characterizations provide indirect but statistical information on the dimensions of the graphene flakes. From a general point of view, this work presents experimental approaches to optimize the use of nanocarbons as liquid crystals and provides new methodologies for the still challenging characterization of such materials.

Crystallographic phase induced electro-optic properties of nanorod blend nematic liquid crystal.

PubMed

Kundu, Sudarshan; Hill, Jonathan P; Richards, Gary J; Ariga, Katsuhiko; Khan, Ali Hossain; Thupakula, Umamahesh; Acharya, Somobrata

2011-09-01

Ultrasmall ZnS or PbS nanorods encapsulated in fluid-like soft organic surfactants show excellent miscibility in the nematic liquid crystal (LC ZLI-4792) host resulting in a novel soft matter type blend with enhanced electro-optic properties. The ultranarrow ZnS rods are of wurtzite phase and possess a chemical bipolarity and a net dipole moment. The centrosymmetric ultranarrow PbS rods possess a finite size and shape dependent inherent dipole moment despite their cubic rock-salt structure. When an electric field is applied, the blend aligns along the direction of the field producing a local unidirectional orientation of the rods and LC directors, and defining a unique axis for the system. The local ordering significantly affects the global ordering of the blend allowing a more rapid response of the electro-optic properties. The degree and switching speed of the blends depend upon the magnitude of dipole moments present in the dopant nanorods. We show how a non-mesogenic element designed with preferential crystallographic phase can be introduced within a LC for improvement of the switching properties of the LC blend. These types of unique blends are a model for fundamental conceptual advances in general understanding of interaction behaviour leading consequently to a significant technological advancement for superior device fabrication.

Optical Simulation and Fabrication of Pancharatnam (Geometric) Phase Devices from Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Kun

Pancharatnam made clear the concept of a phase-only device based on changes in the polarization state of light. A device of this type is sometimes called a circular polarization grating because of the polarization states of interfering light beams used to fabricate it by polarization holography. Here, we will call it a Pancharatnam (geometric) phase device to emphasize the fact that the phase of diffracted light does not have a discontinuous periodic profile but changes continuously. In this dissertation, using simulations and experiments, we have successfully demonstrated a 90% diffraction efficiency based on the Pancharatnam phase deflector (PPD) with the dual-twist structure. Unlike the conventional Pancharatnam phase deflector (c-PPD) limited to small diffraction angles, our work demonstrates that a device with a structural periodicity near the wavelength of light is highly efficient at deflecting light to large angles. Also, from a similar fabrication procedure, we have made an ultra-compact non-mechanical zoom lens system based on the Pancharatnam phase lens (PPL) with a low f-number and high efficiency. The wavelength dependence on the image quality is evaluated and shown to be satisfactory from red light to near-infrared machine vision systems. A demonstration device is shown with a 4x zoom ratio at a 633 nm wavelength. The unique characteristic of these devices is made possible through the use of azo-dye photoalignment materials to align a liquid crystal polymer (reactive mesogens). Furthermore, the proposed dual-twist design and fabrication opens the possibility for making a high-efficiency beam-steering device, a lens with an f-number less than 1.0, as well as a wide range of other potential applications in the optical and display industry. The details of simulation, fabrication, and characterization of these devices are shown in this dissertation.

Hetero-phase fluctuations in the pre-melting region in ionic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsunaga, S.; Tamaki, S.

2008-06-01

The theory of the pre-melting phenomena in ionic crystals on the basis of the concept of the hetero phase fluctuation has been applied to KCl and AgCl crystal. The large scale molecular dynamics simulations (MD) in KCl and AgCl crystals are also performed to examine the ionic configuration in premelting region in the vicinity of their melting points. The size of the liquid like clusters are estimated by the theory and MD. The structural features of liquid like clusters are discussed by MD results using the Lindemann instability condition. The ionic conductivities in the pre-melting region are also discussed on the same theoretical basis.

Biaxiality in Nematic and Smectic Liquid Crystals. Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Satyendra; Li, Quan; Srinivasarao, Mohan

2017-01-24

During the award period, the project team explored several phenomena in a diverse group of soft condensed matter systems. These include understanding of the structure of the newly discovered twist-bend nematic phase, solving the mystery of de Vries smectic phases, probing of interesting associations and defect structures in chromonic liquid crystalline systems, dispersions of ferroelectric nanoparticles in smectic liquid crystals, investigations of newly synthesized light sensitive and energy harvesting materials with highly desirable transport properties. Our findings are summarized in the following report followed by a list of 36 publications and 37 conference presentations. We achieved this with the supportmore » of Basic Sciences Division of the US DOE for which we are thankful.« less

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai; Zaanen, Jan

2017-10-01

The dislocation-mediated quantum melting of solids into quantum liquid crystals is extended from two to three spatial dimensions, using a generalization of boson-vortex or Abelian-Higgs duality. Dislocations are now Burgers-vector-valued strings that trace out worldsheets in space-time while the phonons of the solid dualize into two-form (Kalb-Ramond) gauge fields. We propose an effective dual Higgs potential that allows for restoring translational symmetry in either one, two, or three directions, leading to the quantum analogues of columnar, smectic, or nematic liquid crystals. In these phases, transverse phonons turn into gapped, propagating modes, while compressional stress remains massless. Rotational Goldstone modes emerge whenever translational symmetry is restored. We also consider the effective electromagnetic response of electrically charged quantum liquid crystals, and find among other things that as a hard principle only two out of the possible three rotational Goldstone modes are observable using propagating electromagnetic fields.

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in three dimensions

DOE PAGES

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai; ...

2017-10-09

The dislocation-mediated quantum melting of solids into quantum liquid crystals is extended from two to three spatial dimensions, using a generalization of boson-vortex or Abelian-Higgs duality. Dislocations are now Burgers-vector-valued strings that trace out worldsheets in space-time while the phonons of the solid dualize into two-form (Kalb-Ramond) gauge fields. We propose an effective dual Higgs potential that allows for restoring translational symmetry in either one, two, or three directions, leading to the quantum analogues of columnar, smectic, or nematic liquid crystals. In these phases, transverse phonons turn into gapped, propagating modes, while compressional stress remains massless. Rotational Goldstone modes emergemore » whenever translational symmetry is restored. Lastly, we also consider the effective electromagnetic response of electrically charged quantum liquid crystals, and find among other things that as a hard principle only two out of the possible three rotational Goldstone modes are observable using propagating electromagnetic fields.« less

Dual gauge field theory of quantum liquid crystals in three dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beekman, Aron J.; Nissinen, Jaakko; Wu, Kai

The dislocation-mediated quantum melting of solids into quantum liquid crystals is extended from two to three spatial dimensions, using a generalization of boson-vortex or Abelian-Higgs duality. Dislocations are now Burgers-vector-valued strings that trace out worldsheets in space-time while the phonons of the solid dualize into two-form (Kalb-Ramond) gauge fields. We propose an effective dual Higgs potential that allows for restoring translational symmetry in either one, two, or three directions, leading to the quantum analogues of columnar, smectic, or nematic liquid crystals. In these phases, transverse phonons turn into gapped, propagating modes, while compressional stress remains massless. Rotational Goldstone modes emergemore » whenever translational symmetry is restored. Lastly, we also consider the effective electromagnetic response of electrically charged quantum liquid crystals, and find among other things that as a hard principle only two out of the possible three rotational Goldstone modes are observable using propagating electromagnetic fields.« less

Abiotic ligation of DNA oligomers templated by their liquid crystal ordering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraccia, Tommaso P.; Smith, Gregory P.; Zanchetta, Giuliano; Paraboschi, Elvezia; Yi, Yougwooo; Walba, David M.; Dieci, Giorgio; Clark, Noel A.; Bellini, Tommaso

2015-03-01

It has been observed that concentrated solutions of short DNA oligomers develop liquid crystal ordering as the result of a hierarchically structured supramolecular self-assembly. In mixtures of oligomers with various degree of complementarity, liquid crystal microdomains are formed via the selective aggregation of those oligomers that have a sufficient degree of duplexing and propensity for physical polymerization. Here we show that such domains act as fluid and permeable microreactors in which the order-stabilized molecular contacts between duplex terminals serve as physical templates for their chemical ligation. In the presence of abiotic condensing agents, liquid crystal ordering markedly enhances ligation efficacy, thereby enhancing its own phase stability. The coupling between order-templated ligation and selectivity provided by supramolecular ordering enables an autocatalytic cycle favouring the growth of DNA chains, up to biologically relevant lengths, from few-base long oligomers. This finding suggests a novel scenario for the abiotic origin of nucleic acids.

Tunable hybrid optical modes in a bounded cholesteric liquid crystal with a twist defect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pyatnov, Maxim V.; Vetrov, Stepan Ya.; Timofeev, Ivan V.

2018-03-01

Coupling between the defect mode of a cholesteric liquid crystal and the localized mode of a cholesteric liquid crystal-phase plate-metal structure is theoretically demonstrated. It is shown that the transmittance spectrum can be tuned by changing the twist-defect angle and helix pitch, which are governed by external factors. The spectra for different circular polarizations of the incident light are different; specifically, at the nondiffracting polarization, there is no defect-mode transmittance peak.

Electrical tuning of three-dimensional photonic crystals using polymer dispersed liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhail, Dennis; Straub, Martin; Gu, Min

2005-01-01

Electrically tunable three-dimensional photonic crystals with a tunable wavelength range of over 70nm of stop gaps between 3 and 4μm have been generated in a liquid crystal-polymer composite. The photonic crystals were fabricated by femtosecond-laser direct writing of void channels in an inverse woodpile configuration with 20 layers providing an extinction of infrared light transmission of 70% in the stacking direction. Stable structures could be manufactured up to a liquid crystal concentration of 24%. Applying a direct voltage of several hundred volts in the stacking direction of the photonic crystal changes the alignment of the liquid crystal directors and hence the average refractive index of the structure. This mechanism permits the direct tuning of the photonic stop gap.

Phase field model of the nanoscale evolution during the explosive crystallization phenomenon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardo, S. F.; Boninelli, S.; Cristiano, F.; Deretzis, I.; Grimaldi, M. G.; Huet, K.; Napolitani, E.; La Magna, A.

2018-03-01

Explosive crystallization is a well known phenomenon occurring due to the thermodynamic instability of strongly under-cooled liquids, which is particularly relevant in pulsed laser annealing processes of amorphous semiconductor materials due to the globally exothermic amorphous-to-liquid-to-crystal transition pathway. In spite of the assessed understanding of this phenomenon, quantitative predictions of the material kinetics promoted by explosive crystallization are hardly achieved due to the lack of a consistent model able to simulate the concurrent kinetics of the amorphous-liquid and liquid-crystal interfaces. Here, we propose a multi-well phase-field model specifically suited for the simulation of explosive crystallization induced by pulsed laser irradiation in the nanosecond time scale. The numerical implementation of the model is robust despite the discontinuous jumps of the interface speed induced by the phenomenon. The predictive potential of the simulations is demonstrated by means of comparisons of the modelling predictions with experimental data in terms of in situ reflectivity measurements and ex-situ micro-structural and chemical characterization.

Brownian Dynamics of Colloidal Particles in Lyotropic Chromonic Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Angel; Collings, Peter J.; Yodh, Arjun G.

We employ video microscopy to study the Brownian dynamics of colloidal particles in the nematic phase of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs). These LCLCs (in this case, DSCG) are water soluble, and their nematic phases are characterized by an unusually large elastic anisotropy. Our preliminary measurements of particle mean-square displacement for polystyrene colloidal particles (~5 micron-diameter) show diffusive and sub-diffusive behaviors moving parallel and perpendicular to the nematic director, respectively. In order to understand these motions, we are developing models that incorporate the relaxation of elastic distortions of the surrounding nematic field. Further experiments to confirm these preliminary results and to determine the origin of these deviations compared to simple diffusion theory are ongoing; our results will also be compared to previous diffusion experiments in nematic liquid crystals. We gratefully acknowledge financial support through NSF DMR12-05463, MRSEC DMR11-20901, and NASA NNX08AO0G.

Ionic Liquid Crystals: Versatile Materials.

PubMed

Goossens, Karel; Lava, Kathleen; Bielawski, Christopher W; Binnemans, Koen

2016-04-27

This Review covers the recent developments (2005-2015) in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. It was designed to give a comprehensive overview of the "state-of-the-art" in the field. The discussion is focused on low molar mass and dendrimeric thermotropic ionic mesogens, as well as selected metal-containing compounds (metallomesogens), but some references to polymeric and/or lyotropic ionic liquid crystals and particularly to ionic liquids will also be provided. Although zwitterionic and mesoionic mesogens are also treated to some extent, emphasis will be directed toward liquid-crystalline materials consisting of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions that are not covalently bound but interact via electrostatic and other noncovalent interactions.

Asymmetric flavone-based liquid crystals: synthesis and properties

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Timmons, Daren J.; Jordan, Abraham J.; Kirchon, Angelo A.

2017-02-01

A series of flavones (n-F) substituted at the 4', and 6 positions was prepared, characterised by NMR (1H,13C), HRMS, and studied for liquid crystal properties. The 4'-alkoxy,6-methoxyflavones (4-F–16-F) exhibit varying ranges of nematic and smectic A phases as evidenced by polarised optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As the tail length is increased, the smectic phase becomes more prevalent. Smectic phases for (8-F–16-F) were further analysed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the rate of structural transformations was explored by combined DSC/XRD studies. Flavonol 6-F–OH was also prepared but no mesogenic behaviour was observed. The molecular structures of 6-Fmore » and 6-F–OH were determined by single-crystal XRD and help to explain the differences in material properties. Additionally, fluorescence and electrochemical studies were conducted on solutions of n-F.« less

Aggregation Properties and Liquid Crystal Phase of a Dye Based on Naphthalenetetracarboxylic Acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomasik, Michelle; Collings, Peter

2007-03-01

R003 is a dye produced for thin film optical components by Optiva, Inc.^1 made from the sulfonation of the dibenzimidazole derivative of naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid. Its molecular structure is very different from the aggregating food dye previously investigated in our laboratory^2 and R003 forms a liquid crystal phase at significantly lower concentrations. We have performed polarizing microscopy, absorption spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction experiments in order to determine the phase diagram and aggregate structure. In addition, we have included both translational and orientational entropy in the theoretical analysis of the aggregation process, and have used a more realistic lineshape in analyzing the absorption data. Our results indicate that the ``bond energy'' for molecules in an aggregate is even larger than for the previously studied dye and that the aggregate structure has a cross-sectional area equal to two or three molecular areas rather than one.^1Lazarev, P., N. Ovchinnikova, M. Paukshto, SID Int. Symp. Digest of Tech. Papers, San Jose, California, June XXXII, 571 (2001).^2V. R. Horowitz, L. A. Janowitz, A. L. Modic, P. A. Heiney, and P. J. Collings, Phys. Rev. E 72, 041710 (2005).

Liquid crystals as on-demand, variable thickness targets for intense laser applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poole, Patrick L.; Andereck, C. David; Schumacher, Douglass W.

2014-10-01

Laser-based ion acceleration is currently studied for its applications to advanced imaging and cancer therapy, among others. Targets for these and other high-intensity laser experiments are often small metallic foils with few to sub-micron thicknesses, where the thickness determines the physics of the dominant acceleration mechanism. We have developed liquid crystal films that preserve the planar target geometry advantageous to ion acceleration schemes while providing on-demand thickness variation between 50 and 5000 nm. This thickness control is obtained in part by varying the temperature at which films are formed, which governs the phase (and hence molecular ordering) of the liquid crystal material. Liquid crystals typically have vapor pressures well below the 10-6 Torr operating pressures of intense laser target chambers, and films formed in air maintain their thickness during chamber evacuation. Additionally, the minute volume that comprises each film makes the cost of each target well below one cent, in stark contrast to many standard solid targets. We will discuss the details of liquid crystal film control and formation, as well as characterization experiments performed at the Scarlet laser facility. This work was performed with support from DARPA and NNSA.

Effect of binder liquid type on spherical crystallization.

PubMed

Maghsoodi, Maryam; Hajipour, Ali

2014-11-01

Spherical crystallization is a process of formation of agglomerates of crystals held together by binder liquid. This research focused on understanding the effect of type of solvents used as binder liquid on the agglomeration of crystals. Carbamazepine and ethanol/water were used respectively as a model drug and crystallization system. Eight solvents as binder liquid including chloroform, dichloromethane, isopropyl acetate, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, dimethyl aniline, benzene and toluene were examined to better understand the relationship between the physical properties of the binder liquid and its ability to bring about the formation of the agglomerates. Moreover, the agglomerates obtained from effective solvents as binder liquid were evaluated in term of size, apparent particle density and compressive strength. In this study the clear trend was observed experimentally in the agglomerate formation as a function of physical properties of the binder liquid such as miscibility with crystallization system. Furthermore, the properties of obtained agglomerates such as size, apparent particle density and compressive strength were directly related to physical properties of effective binder liquids. RESULTS of this study offer a useful starting point for a conceptual framework to guide the selection of solvent systems for spherical crystallization.

Demonstrations with a Liquid Crystal Shutter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraftmakher, Yaakov

2012-01-01

The experiments presented show the response of a liquid crystal shutter to applied electric voltages and the delay of the operations. Both properties are important for liquid crystal displays of computers and television sets. Two characteristics of the shutter are determined: (i) the optical transmittance versus applied voltage of various…

Optical phase aberration generation using a Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilcox, Christopher C.

In this dissertation, a Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator is used to simulate optical aberrations in an optical system. Any optical aberration can be simulated through the use of software developed for this project. A new method of simulating atmospheric turbulence is also presented. The Earth's atmosphere is a large, non-linear, non-homogeneous medium that is constantly flowing in a random fashion that affects light as it propagates through it. The Kolmogorov model for atmospheric turbulence is a description of the nature of the wavefront perturbations introduced by the atmosphere and it is one of the most accepted models. It is supported by a variety of experimental measurements and research and is quite widely used in simulations for atmospheric imaging. This model provides a statistical description of how random fluctuations in humidity and temperature affect the refractive index of the atmosphere for imaging through atmospheric turbulence. These refractive index fluctuations in turn affect the propagation of light through the atmosphere. An adaptive optical system can be developed to correct these wavefront perturbations for an optical system. However, prior to deployment, an adaptive optical system requires calibration and full characterization in the laboratory. Creating realistic atmospheric simulations is often expensive and computationally intensive using common techniques. To combat some of these issues often the temporal properties in the simulation are neglected. This dissertation outlines a new method developed for generating atmospheric turbulence and a testbed that simulates its aberrations far more inexpensively and with greater fidelity using a Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator. This system allows the simulation of atmospheric seeing conditions ranging from very poor to very good and different algorithms may be easily employed on the device for comparison. These simulations can be dynamically generated and modified very quickly and

Space-inhomogeneous phase modulation of laser radiation in an electro-optical ferroelectric liquid crystal cell for suppressing speckle noise.

PubMed

Andreev, Alexander L; Andreeva, Tatiana B; Kompanets, Igor N; Zalyapin, Nikolay V

2018-02-20

Spatially inhomogeneous modulation of a phase delay with the depth of the order π or more makes it possible to destroy phase relations in a laser beam passing through an electro-optical cell with the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and, as a consequence, to suppress speckle noise in images formed by this beam. Such a modulation is a consequence of chaotic changes in the position of the scattering indicatrix of helix-free FLC, when an electro-optical cell is simultaneously supplied with a low-frequency and high-frequency bipolar control voltage. In this work, the phase modulation and effective suppressing of the speckles are realized using a new type of helix-free FLC material with periodic deformations of smectic layers.

Color changing plasmonic surfaces utilizing liquid crystal (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franklin, Daniel; Wu, Shin-Tson; Chanda, Debashis

2016-09-01

Plasmonic structural color has recently garnered significant interest as an alternative to the organic dyes standard in print media and liquid crystal displays. These nanostructured metallic systems can produce diffraction limited images, be made polarization dependent, and exhibit resistance to color bleaching. Perhaps even more advantageous, their optical characteristics can also be tuned, post-fabrication, by altering the surrounding media's refractive index parallel to the local plasmonic fields. A common material with which to achieve this is liquid crystal. By reorienting the liquid crystal molecules through external electric fields, the optical resonances of the plasmonic filters can be dynamically controlled. Demonstrations of this phenomenon, however, have been limited to modest shifts in plasmon resonance. Here, we report a liquid crystal-plasmonic system with an enhanced tuning range through the use of a shallow array of nano-wells and high birefringent liquid crystal. The continuous metallic nanostructure maximizes the overlap between plasmonic fields and liquid crystal while also allowing full reorientation of the liquid crystal upon an applied electric field. Sweeping over structural dimensions and voltages results in a color palette for these dynamic reflective pixels that can further be exploited to create color tunable images. These advances make plasmonic-liquid crystal systems more attractive candidates for filter, display, and other tunable optical technologies.

Anchoring Energy Measurements at the Aqueous Phase/Liquid Crystal Interface with Cationic Surfactants Using Magnetic Fréedericksz Transition.

PubMed

Yesil, Fatma; Suwa, Masayori; Tsukahara, Satoshi

2018-01-09

We constructed the apparatus to observe the Fréedericksz transition of liquid crystal in contact with water. The Fréedericksz transition is a distortion of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) induced by external fields. In the present system, sweeping homogeneous magnetic field was applied to the sample, and the distortion of the LC was visualized with a polarized light microscope with the crossed Nichols configuration. The anchoring energy (W AQ/LC ) at the aqueous phase/LC interface was measured in the presence of surfactant from the threshold magnetic field of the Fréedericksz transition. We studied two cationic surfactants: dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide. A nematic LC, 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), was examined, which was confined in a copper grid on an octadecyltrichlorosilane-treated microscope glass plate. Measured W AQ/LC were reproducible and showed consistence with the reported region for the water/LC interface. Interfacial excess of surfactants was also measured by the pendant drop method, and the relationship between the obtained W AQ/LC and the interfacial excess was investigated. Experiments showed that an increase in the anchoring energy depends on the surfactant and its interfacial excess. The region of the interfacial coverage, at which W AQ/LC increases, varied with the chain length of the surfactant. The measurement of the anchoring energy will provide new fundamental information on aqueous phase/LC interface.

Molecular dynamics simulations of liquid silica crystallization.

PubMed

Niu, Haiyang; Piaggi, Pablo M; Invernizzi, Michele; Parrinello, Michele

2018-05-07

Silica is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth and is widely used in many fields. Investigating the crystallization of liquid silica by atomic simulations is of great importance to understand the crystallization mechanism; however, the high crystallization barrier and the tendency of silica to form glasses make such simulations very challenging. Here we have studied liquid silica crystallization to [Formula: see text]-cristobalite with metadynamics, using X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak intensities as collective variables. The frequent transitions between solid and liquid of the biased runs demonstrate the highly successful use of the XRD peak intensities as collective variables, which leads to the convergence of the free-energy surface. By calculating the difference in free energy, we have estimated the melting temperature of [Formula: see text]-cristobalite, which is in good agreement with the literature. The nucleation mechanism during the crystallization of liquid silica can be described by classical nucleation theory. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Control of liquid crystal molecular orientation using ultrasound vibration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taniguchi, Satoki; Wave Electronics Research Center, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321; Koyama, Daisuke

2016-03-07

We propose a technique to control the orientation of nematic liquid crystals using ultrasound and investigate the optical characteristics of the oriented samples. An ultrasonic liquid crystal cell with a thickness of 5–25 μm and two ultrasonic lead zirconate titanate transducers was fabricated. By exciting the ultrasonic transducers, the flexural vibration modes were generated on the cell. An acoustic radiation force to the liquid crystal layer was generated, changing the molecular orientation and thus the light transmission. By modulating the ultrasonic driving frequency and voltage, the spatial distribution of the molecular orientation of the liquid crystals could be controlled. The distributionmore » of the transmitted light intensity depends on the thickness of the liquid crystal layer because the acoustic field in the liquid crystal layer is changed by the orientational film.« less

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Gas liquid phase coexistence in a tetrahedral patchy particle model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romano, Flavio; Tartaglia, Piero; Sciortino, Francesco

2007-08-01

We evaluate the location of the gas-liquid coexistence line and of the associated critical point for the primitive model for water (PMW), introduced by Kolafa and Nezbeda (1987 Mol. Phys. 61 161). Besides being a simple model for a molecular network forming liquid, the PMW is representative of patchy proteins and novel colloidal particles interacting with localized directional short-range attractions. We show that the gas-liquid phase separation is metastable, i.e. it takes place in the region of the phase diagram where the crystal phase is thermodynamically favoured, as in the case of particles interacting via short-range attractive spherical potentials. We do not observe crystallization close to the critical point. The region of gas-liquid instability of this patchy model is significantly reduced as compared to that from equivalent models of spherically interacting particles, confirming the possibility of observing kinetic arrest in a homogeneous sample driven by bonding as opposed to packing.

On-axis programmable microscope using liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Martínez, Pascuala; Martínez, José Luís.; Moreno, Ignacio

2017-06-01

Spatial light modulators (SLM) are currently used in many applications in optical microscopy and imaging. One of the most promising methods is the use of liquid crystal displays (LCD) as programmable phase diffractive optical elements (DOE) placed in the Fourier plane giving access to the spatial frequencies which can be phased shifted individually, allowing to emulate a wealth of contrast enhancing methods for both amplitude and phase samples. We use phase and polarization modulation of LCD to implement an on-axis microscope optical system. The LCD used are Hamamatsu liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) SLM free of flicker, thus showing a full profit of the SLM space bandwidth, as opposed to optical systems in the literature forced to work off-axis due to the strong zero-order component. Taking benefits of the phase modulation of the LCOS we have implemented different microscopic imaging operations, such as high-pass and low-pass filtering in parallel using programmable blazed gratings. Moreover, we are able to control polarization modulation to display two orthogonal linear state of polarization images than can be subtracted or added by changing the period of the blazed grating. In that sense, Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy can be easily done by generating two images exploiting the polarization splitting properties when a blazed grating is displayed in the SLM. Biological microscopy samples are also used.

Two distinct crystallization processes in supercooled liquid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tane, Masakazu, E-mail: mtane@sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp; Kimizuka, Hajime; Ichitsubo, Tetsu

2016-05-21

Using molecular dynamics simulations we show that two distinct crystallization processes, depending on the temperature at which crystallization occurs, appear in a supercooled liquid. As a model for glass-forming materials, an Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} model system, in which both the glass transition and crystallization from the supercooled liquid can be well reproduced, is employed. Simulations in the framework of an isothermal-isobaric ensemble indicate that the calculated time-temperature-transformation curve for the crystallization to γ(defect spinel)-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} exhibited a typical nose shape, as experimentally observed in various glass materials. During annealing above the nose temperature, the structure of the supercooled liquidmore » does not change before the crystallization, because of the high atomic mobility (material transport). Thus, the crystallization is governed by the abrupt crystal nucleation, which results in the formation of a stable crystal structure. In contrast, during annealing below the nose temperature, the structure of the supercooled liquid gradually changes before the crystallization, and the formed crystal structure is less stable than that formed above the nose temperature, because of the restricted material transport.« less

Optic properties of bile liquid crystals in human body

PubMed Central

Yang, Hai Ming; Wu, Jie; Li, Jin Yi; Zhou, Jian Li; He, Li Jun; Xu, Xian Fang

2000-01-01

AIM: To further study the properties of bile liquid crystals, and probe into the relationship between bile liquid crystals and gallbladder stone formation, and provide evidence for the prevention and treatment of cholecystolithiasis. METHODS: The optic properties of bile liquid crystals in human body were determined by the method of crystal optics under polarizing microscope with plane polarized light and perpendicular polarized light. RESULTS: Under a polarizing microscope with plane polarized light, bile liquid crystals scattered in bile appeared round, oval or irregularly round. The color of bile liquid crystals was a little lighter than that of the bile around. When the stage was turned round, the color of bile liquid crystals or the darkness and lightness of the color did not change obviously. On the border between bile liquid crystals and the bile around, brighter Becke-Line could be observed. When the microscope tube is lifted, Becke-Line moved inward, and when lowered, Becke-Line moved outward. Under a perpendicular polarized light, bile liquid crystals showd some special interference patterns, called Malta cross. When the stage was turning round at an angle of 360°, the Malta cross showed four times of extinction. In the vibrating direction of 45° angle of relative to upper and lower polarizing plate, gypsum test-board with optical path difference of 530 nm was inserted, the first and the third quadrants of Malt a cross appeared to be blue, and the second and the fourth quadrants appeared orange. When mica test-board with optical path difference of 147 nm was inserted, the first and the third quadrants of Malta cross appeared yellow, and the second and the fourth quadrants appeared dark grey. CONCLUSION: The bile liquid crystals were distributed in bile in the form of global grains. Their polychroism and absorption were slight, but the edge and Becke*Line were very clear. Its refractive index was larger than that of the bile. These liquid crystals were

Phase Transitions of Triflate-Based Ionic Liquids under High Pressure.

PubMed

Faria, Luiz F O; Ribeiro, Mauro C C

2015-11-05

Raman spectroscopy has been used to study phase transitions of ionic liquids based on the triflate anion, [TfO](-), as a function of pressure or temperature. Raman spectra of ionic liquids containing the cations 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, [C4C1Im](+), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium, [C8C1Im](+), 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium, [C4C1C1Im](+), and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium, [C4C1Pyr](+), were compared. Vibrational frequencies and binding energy of ionic pairs were calculated by quantum chemistry methods. The ionic liquids [C4C1Im][TfO] and [C4C1Pyr][TfO] crystallize at 1.0 GPa when the pressure is increased in steps of ∼ 0.2 GPa from the atmospheric pressure, whereas [C8C1Im][TfO] and [C4C1C1Im][TfO] do not crystallize up to 2.3 GPa of applied pressure. The low-frequency range of the Raman spectrum of [C4C1Im][TfO] indicates that the system undergoes glass transition, rather than crystallization, when the pressure applied on the liquid has been increased above 2.0 GPa in a single step. Strong hysteresis of spectral features (frequency shift and bandwidth) of the high-pressure crystalline phase when the pressure was released stepwise back to the atmospheric pressure has been found .

Chirality transfer technique between liquid crystal microdroplets using microfluidic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jin-kun; Lee, Doyeon; Song, Jang-kun

2018-02-01

Cholesteric liquid crystal (LC) microdroplet is applied in many areas, such as tunable laser, biosensor, information display and security identification, due to its unique optical properties. The topological structure, defects, and photonic crystallinity in the cholesteric liquid crystal (LC) microdroplet can be controlled through the chirality. Here we report an interesting phenomenon that chirality information can be shared among dispersed LC microdroplets in surfactant aqueous solution, which is driven by the transferring of chiral dopant molecules. As a result, we developed an artificial molecule transfer technology which could in situ vary the material composition within the isolated dispersed microdroplets. The molecular transfer is switchable and the transfer speed is controllable by tuning the molecular solubility in continuous phase. Based on this technique, we manipulated, forward and backward, the topological evolution and the photonic crystal band-gap of the dispersed LC droplet. This technique is an easy and powerful experimental tool, and it may be applicable to other fields in optical application, biology, chemistry and material science.

Brownian dynamics and dynamic Monte Carlo simulations of isotropic and liquid crystal phases of anisotropic colloidal particles: a comparative study.

PubMed

Patti, Alessandro; Cuetos, Alejandro

2012-07-01

We report on the diffusion of purely repulsive and freely rotating colloidal rods in the isotropic, nematic, and smectic liquid crystal phases to probe the agreement between Brownian and Monte Carlo dynamics under the most general conditions. By properly rescaling the Monte Carlo time step, being related to any elementary move via the corresponding self-diffusion coefficient, with the acceptance rate of simultaneous trial displacements and rotations, we demonstrate the existence of a unique Monte Carlo time scale that allows for a direct comparison between Monte Carlo and Brownian dynamics simulations. To estimate the validity of our theoretical approach, we compare the mean square displacement of rods, their orientational autocorrelation function, and the self-intermediate scattering function, as obtained from Brownian dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. The agreement between the results of these two approaches, even under the condition of heterogeneous dynamics generally observed in liquid crystalline phases, is excellent.

Role of amphiphilic molecule on liquid crystal phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dan, Kaustabh; Roy, Madhusudan; Datta, Alokmay

2013-02-01

We have studied the effect of an amphiphilic fatty acid, Stearic Acid (StA), on the phases, wetting and polarization properties of the liquid crystalline substance N-(4-Methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA), through Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Optical Polarization Microscopy. Metastable and mesophases disappear for a MBBA:StA = 1:5 mixture. This mixture wets Si(111) and dewets Si(100) surfaces while pure MBBA dewets both. Films of this mixture also show better polarization than the pure sample.

Liquid crystal droplet formation and anchoring dynamics in a microfluidic device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinhaus, Ben; Shen, Amy; Feng, James; Link, Darren

2004-11-01

Liquid crystal drops dispersed in a continuous phase of silicon oil are generated with a narrow distribution in droplet size in microfluidic devices both above and below the nematic to isotropic transition temperature. For these two cases, we observe not only the different LC droplet generation and coalescence dynamics, but also distinct droplet morphology. Our experiments show that the nematic liquid crystalline order is important for the LC droplet formation and anchoring dynamics.

Synthesis of Two-Photon Materials and Two-Photon Liquid Crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Subramaniam, Girija

2001-01-01

The duration of the grant was interrupted by two major accidents that the PI met with-- an auto accident in Pasadena, CA during her second summer at JPL which took almost eight months for recovery and a second accident during Fall 2000 that left her in crutches for the entire semester. Further, the time released agreed by the University was not given in a timely fashion. The candidate has been given post-grant expire time off. In spite of all these problems, the PI synthesized a number of new two-photon materials and studied the structure-activity correlation to arrive at the best-optimized structure. The PI's design proved to be one of the best in the sense that these materials has a hitherto unreported two-photon absorption cross section. Many materials based on PI's design was later made by the NASA colleague. This is Phase 1. Phase II of this grant is to orate liquid crystalline nature into this potentially useful materials and is currently in progress. Recent observations of nano- and pico-second response time of homeotropically aligned liquid crystals suggest their inherent potentials to act as laser hardening materials, i.e., as protective devices against short laser pulses. The objective of the current project is to exploit this potential by the synthesis of liquid crystals with high optical nonlinearity and optimizing their performance. The PI is trying structural variations to bring in liquid crystalline nature without losing the high two-photon cross section. Both Phase I and Phase II led to many invited presentations and publications in reputed journals like 'Science' and 'Molecular Crystals'. The list of presentations and reprints are enclosed. Another important and satisfying outcome of this grant is the opportunity that this grant offered to the budding undergraduate scientists to get involved in a visible research of international importance. All the students had a chance to learn a lot during research, had the opportunity to present their work at

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal elastomers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rešetič, Andraž; Milavec, Jerneja; Zupančič, Blaž; Domenici, Valentina; Zalar, Boštjan

2016-10-01

The need for mechanical manipulation during the curing of conventional liquid crystal elastomers diminishes their applicability in the field of shape-programmable soft materials and future applications in additive manufacturing. Here we report on polymer-dispersed liquid crystal elastomers, novel composite materials that eliminate this difficulty. Their thermal shape memory anisotropy is imprinted by curing in external magnetic field, providing for conventional moulding of macroscopically sized soft, thermomechanically active elastic objects of general shapes. The binary soft-soft composition of isotropic elastomer matrix, filled with freeze-fracture-fabricated, oriented liquid crystal elastomer microparticles as colloidal inclusions, allows for fine-tuning of thermal morphing behaviour. This is accomplished by adjusting the concentration, spatial distribution and orientation of microparticles or using blends of microparticles with different thermomechanical characteristics. We demonstrate that any Gaussian thermomechanical deformation mode (bend, cup, saddle, left and right twist) of a planar sample, as well as beat-like actuation, is attainable with bilayer microparticle configurations.

Nano Liquid Crystal Droplet Impact on Solid Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Rui; de Pablo, Juan; dePablo Team

2015-03-01

Liquid droplet impaction on solid surfaces is an important problem with a wide range of applications in everyday life. Liquid crystals (LCs) are anisotropic liquids whose internal structure gives rise to rich optical and morphological phenomena. In this work we study the liquid crystal droplet impaction on solid surfaces by molecular dynamics simulations. We employ a widely used Gay-Berne model to describe the elongated liquid crystal molecules and their interactions. Our work shows that, in contrast to isotropic liquids, drop deformation is symmetric unless an instability kicks in, in which case a nano scale liquid crystal droplet exhibits distinct anisotropic spreading modes that do not occur in simple liquids. The drop prefers spreading along the low viscosity direction, but inertia can in some cases overcome that bias. The effects of the director field of the droplet, preferred anchoring direction and the anchoring strength of the wall are investigated. Large scale (0.1 micron) simulations are performed to connect our nano scale results to the experiments. Our studies indicate that LCs could provide an interesting alternative for development of next-generation printing inks.

Effect of Molecular Flexibility on the Nematic-to-Isotropic Phase Transition for Highly Biaxial Molecular Non-Symmetric Liquid Crystal Dimers

PubMed Central

Sebastián, Nerea; López, David Orencio; Diez-Berart, Sergio; de la Fuente, María Rosario; Salud, Josep; Pérez-Jubindo, Miguel Angel; Ros, María Blanca

2011-01-01

In this work, a study of the nematic (N)–isotropic (I) phase transition has been made in a series of odd non-symmetric liquid crystal dimers, the α-(4-cyanobiphenyl-4’-yloxy)-ω-(1-pyrenimine-benzylidene-4’-oxy) alkanes, by means of accurate calorimetric and dielectric measurements. These materials are potential candidates to present the elusive biaxial nematic (NB) phase, as they exhibit both molecular biaxiality and flexibility. According to the theory, the uniaxial nematic (NU)–isotropic (I) phase transition is first-order in nature, whereas the NB–I phase transition is second-order. Thus, a fine analysis of the critical behavior of the N–I phase transition would allow us to determine the presence or not of the biaxial nematic phase and understand how the molecular biaxiality and flexibility of these compounds influences the critical behavior of the N–I phase transition. PMID:28824100

Mesophase stabilization in ionic liquid crystals through pairing equally shaped mesogenic cations and anions

DOE PAGES

Stappert, Kathrin; Lipinski, Gregor; Kopiec, Gabriel; ...

2015-07-23

The synthesis and properties of a set of novel ionic liquid crystals with congruently shaped cations and anions are reported to check whether pairing mesogenic cations with mesogenic anions leads to a stabilization of a liquid crystalline phase. To that avail 1-alkyl-3-methyl-triazolium cations with an alkyl chain length of 10, 12, and 14 carbon atoms have been combined with p-alkyloxy-benzenesulfonate anions with different alkyl chain lengths (n = 10, 12, and 14). The corresponding triazolium iodides have been synthesized as reference compounds where the cation and anion have strong size and shape mismatch. The mesomorphic behavior of all compounds ismore » studied by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy. All compounds except 1-methyl-3-decyltriazolium iodide, which qualifies as an ionic liquid, are thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. All other compounds adopt smectic A phases. As a result, a comparison of the thermal phase behavior of the 1-methyl-3-decyltriazolium bromides to the corresponding p-alkoxy-benzensulfonates reveals that definitely the mesophase is stabilized by pairing the rod-shaped 1-alkyl-3-methyltriazolium cation with a rod-like anion of similar size.« less

Electrically tunable liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olausson, Christina B.; Scolari, Lara; Wei, Lei; Noordegraaf, Danny; Weirich, Johannes; Alkeskjold, Thomas T.; Hansen, Kim P.; Bjarklev, Anders

2010-02-01

We demonstrate electrical tunability of a fiber laser using a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber. Tuning of the laser is achieved by combining the wavelength filtering effect of a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber device with an ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber. We fabricate an all-spliced laser cavity based on a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fiber mounted on a silicon assembly, a pump/signal combiner with single-mode signal feed-through and an ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber. The laser cavity produces a single-mode output and is tuned in the range 1040- 1065 nm by applying an electric field to the silicon assembly.

Surface Premelting Coupled with Bulk Phase Transitions in Colloidal Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bo; Wang, Feng; Zhou, Di; Cao, Xin; Peng, Yi; Ni, Ran; Liao, Maijia; Han, Yilong

2015-03-01

Colloids have been used as outstanding model systems for the studies of various phase transitions in bulk, but not at interface yet. Here we obtained equilibrium crystal-vapor interfaces using tunable attractive colloidal spheres and studied the surface premelting at the single-particle level by video microscopy. We found that monolayer crystals exhibit a bulk isostructural solid-solid transition which triggers the surface premelting. The premelting is incomplete due to the interruption of a mechanical-instability-induced bulk melting. By contrast, two- or multilayer crystals do not have the solid-solid transition and the mechanical instability, hence they exhibit complete premelting with divergent surface-liquid thickness. These novel interplays between bulk and surface phase transitions cast new lights for both types of transitions.

Planar optics with patterned chiral liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobashi, Junji; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Ozaki, Masanori

2016-06-01

Reflective metasurfaces based on metallic and dielectric nanoscatterers have attracted interest owing to their ability to control the phase of light. However, because such nanoscatterers require subwavelength features, the fabrication of elements that operate in the visible range is challenging. Here, we show that chiral liquid crystals with a self-organized helical structure enable metasurface-like, non-specular reflection in the visible region. The phase of light that is Bragg-reflected off the helical structure can be controlled over 0-2π depending on the spatial phase of the helical structure; thus planar elements with arbitrary reflected wavefronts can be created via orientation control. The circular polarization selectivity and external field tunability of Bragg reflection open a wide variety of potential applications for this family of functional devices, from optical isolators to wearable displays.

A study of waste liquid crystal display generation in mainland China.

PubMed

Liu, Zhifeng; Xu, Zeying; Huang, Haihong; Li, Bingbing

2016-01-01

The generation of liquid crystal display waste is becoming a serious social problem. Predicting liquid crystal display waste status is the foundation for establishing a recycling network; however, the difficulty in predicting liquid crystal display waste quantity lies in data mining. In order to determine the quantity and the distribution of liquid crystal display waste in China, the four top-selling liquid crystal display products (liquid crystal display TVs, desktop PCs, notebook PCs, and mobile phones) were selected as study objects. Then, the extended logistic model and market supply A method was used to predict the quantity of liquid crystal display waste products. Moreover, the distribution of liquid crystal display waste products in different regions was evaluated by examining the consumption levels of household equipment. The results revealed that the quantity of waste liquid crystal displays would increase rapidly in the next decade. In particular, the predicted quantity of waste liquid crystal displays would rise to approximately 4.262 × 10(9) pieces in 2020, and the total display area (i.e. the surface area of liquid crystal display panels) of waste liquid crystal displays would reach 5.539 × 10(7) m(2). The prediction on the display area of waste liquid crystal display TVs showed that it would account for 71.5% of the total display area by 2020. Meanwhile, the quantity of waste mobile phones would significantly grow, increasing 5.8 times from 2012 to 2020. In terms of distribution, Guangdong is the top waste liquid crystal display-generating province in China, followed by Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, and Sichuan. Considering its regional characteristics, Guangdong has been proposed to be the most important location of the recycling network. © The Author(s) 2015.

Polymer stabilized liquid crystals: Topology-mediated electro-optical behavior and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, Libo

There has been a wide range of liquid crystal polymer composites that vary in polymer concentration from as little as 3 wt.% (polymer stabilized liquid crystal) to as high as 60 wt.% (polymer dispersed liquid crystals). In this dissertation, an approach of surface polymerization based on a low reactive monomer concentration about 1 wt.% is studied in various liquid crystal operation modes. The first part of dissertation describes the development of a vertical alignment (VA) mode with surface polymer stabilization, and the effects of structure-performance relationship of reactive monomers (RMs) and polymerization conditions on the electro-optical behaviors of the liquid crystal device has been explored. The polymer topography plays an important role in modifying and enhancing the electro-optical performance of stabilized liquid crystal alignment. The enabling surface-pinned polymer stabilized vertical alignment (PSVA) approach has led to the development of high-performance and fast-switching displays with controllable pretilt angle, increase in surface anchoring energy, high optical contrast and fast response time. The second part of the dissertation explores a PSVA mode with in-plane switching (IPS) and its application for high-efficiency and fast-switching phase gratings. The diffraction patterns and the electro-optical behaviors including diffraction efficiency and response time are characterized. The diffraction grating mechanism and performance have been validated by computer simulation. Finally, the advantages of surface polymerization approach such as good optical contrast and fast response time have been applied to the fringe-field switching (FFS) system. The concentration of reactive monomer on the electro-optical behavior of the FFS cells is optimized. The outstanding electro-optical results and mechanism of increase in surface anchoring strength are corroborated by the director field simulation. The density and topology of nanoscale polymer protrusions

Investigating gas-phase defect formation in late-stage solidification using a novel phase-field crystal alloy model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Nan; Smith, Nathan; Provatas, Nikolas

2017-09-01

We study late-stage solidification and the associated formation of defects in alloy materials using a novel model based on the phase-field-crystal technique. It is shown that our model successfully captures several important physical phenomena that occur in the late stages of solidification, including solidification shrinkage, liquid cavitation and microsegregation, all in a single framework. By examining the interplay of solidification shrinkage and solute segregation, this model reveals that the formation of gas pore defects at the late stage of solidification can lead to nucleation of second phase solid particles due to solute enrichment in the eutectic liquid driven by gas-phase nucleation and growth. We also predict a modification of the Gulliver-Scheil equation in the presence of gas pockets in confined liquid pools.

Role of Molecular Structure on X-ray Diffraction in Thermotropic Uniaxial and Biaxial Nematic Liquid Crystal Phases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Acharya, Bharat R.; Kang, Shin-Woong; Prasad, Veena

2009-08-27

X-ray diffraction is one of the most definitive methods to determine the structure of condensed matter phases, and it has been applied to unequivocally infer the structures of conventional calamitic and lyotropic liquid crystals. With the advent of bent-core and tetrapodic mesogens and the discovery of the biaxial nematic phase in them, the experimental results require more careful interpretation and analysis. Here, we present ab-initio calculations of X-ray diffraction patterns in the isotropic, uniaxial nematic, and biaxial nematic phases of bent-core mesogens. A simple Meier-Saupe-like molecular distribution function is employed to describe both aligned and unaligned mesophases. The distribution functionmore » is decomposed into two, polar and azimuthal, distribution functions to calculate the effect of the evolution of uniaxial and biaxial nematic orientational order. The calculations provide satisfactory semiquantitative interpretations of experimental results. The calculations presented here should provide a pathway to more refined and quantitative analysis of X-ray diffraction data from the biaxial nematic phase.« less

Role of Molecular Structure on X-ray Diffraction in Uniaxial and Biaxial Phases of Thermotropic Liquid Crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Acharya, Bharat R.; Kang, Shin-Woong; Prasad, Veena

2009-04-29

X-ray diffraction is one of the most definitive methods to determine the structure of condensed matter phases, and it has been applied to unequivocally infer the structures of conventional calamitic and lyotropic liquid crystals. With the advent of bent-core and tetrapodic mesogens and the discovery of the biaxial nematic phase in them, the experimental results require more careful interpretation and analysis. Here, we present ab-initio calculations of X-ray diffraction patterns in the isotropic, uniaxial nematic, and biaxial nematic phases of bent-core mesogens. A simple Meier-Saupe-like molecular distribution function is employed to describe both aligned and unaligned mesophases. The distribution functionmore » is decomposed into two, polar and azimuthal, distribution functions to calculate the effect of the evolution of uniaxial and biaxial nematic orientational order. The calculations provide satisfactory semiquantitative interpretations of experimental results. The calculations presented here should provide a pathway to more refined and quantitative analysis of X-ray diffraction data from the biaxial nematic phase.« less

Low-Absorption Liquid Crystals for Infrared Beam Steering

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

liquid crystals for infrared laser beam steering applications. To suppress the optical loss in MW1R and LW1R, we have investigated following...dielectric anisotropy, and low optical loss nematic liquid crystals for infrared laser beam steering applications. To suppress the optical loss in MWIR and...modulators. 1. Objective The main objective of this program is to develop low-loss liquid crystals for electronic laser beam steering in the infrared

Dynamic Photonic Materials Based on Liquid Crystals (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

AFRL-RX-WP-JA-2015-0059 DYNAMIC PHOTONIC MATERIALS BASED ON LIQUID CRYSTALS (POSTPRINT) Luciano De Sio and Cesare Umeton University...ON LIQUID CRYSTALS (POSTPRINT) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER In-House 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 61102F 6. AUTHOR(S) (see back...10.1016/B978-0-444-62644-8.00001-7. 14. ABSTRACT Liquid crystals, combining optical non-linearity and self-organizing properties with fluidity, and being

Liquid-Crystal Point-Diffraction Interferometer for Wave-Front Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercer, Carolyn R.; Creath, Katherine

1996-01-01

A new instrument, the liquid-crystal point-diffraction interferometer (LCPDI), is developed for the measurement of phase objects. This instrument maintains the compact, robust design of Linnik's point-diffraction interferometer and adds to it a phase-stepping capability for quantitative interferogram analysis. The result is a compact, simple to align, environmentally insensitive interferometer capable of accurately measuring optical wave fronts with very high data density and with automated data reduction. We describe the theory and design of the LCPDI. A focus shift was measured with the LCPDI, and the results are compared with theoretical results,

Nanoparticles Doped Liquid Crystal Filled Photonic Bandgap Fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scolari, Lara; Gauza, Sebastian; Xianyu, Haiqing; Zhai, Lei; Eskildsen, Lars; Alkeskjold, Thomas Tanggaard; Wu, Shin-Tson; Bjarklev, Anders

2008-10-01

We infiltrate liquid crystals doped with BaTiO3 nanoparticles in a photonic crystal fiber and compare the measured transmission spectrum to the one achieved with undoped liquid crystals. New interesting features such as frequency dependent behavior and a transmission spectrum with tunable attenuation on the short wavelength side of the bandgap suggest a potential application of this device as a tunable all-in-fiber gain equalization filter. The tunability of the device is demonstrated by changing the temperature of the liquid crystal and by varying both the amplitude and the frequency of the applied external electric field.

Living liquid crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, S.; Sokolov, A.; Lavrentovich, O. D.

2014-01-13

Collective motion of self-propelled organisms or synthetic par­ticles, often termed •active fluid,• has attracted enormous atten­tion in the broad scientific community because of its fundamentally nonequilibrium nature. Energy input and interactions among the moving units and the medium lead to complex dynamics. Here,we introduce a class of active matter-living liquid crystals (UCs}­ that combines living swimming bacteria with a lyotropic liquid crystal. The physical properties of LLCs can be controlled by the amount of oxygen available to bacteria, by concentration of ingre­dients, or by temperature. Our studies reveal a wealth of intriguing dynamic phenomena. caused by the coupling between themore » activity-triggered flow and long-range orientational order of the medium. Among these are (i) nonlinear trajectories of bacterial motion guided by nonuniform director, (ii) local melting of the liquid crystal caused by the bacteria-produced shear flows, (iii) activity-triggered transition from a nonflowing uniform state into a flowing one-dimensional periodic pattern and its evolution into a turbulent array of topological defects, and (iv) birefringence­ enabled visualization of microflow generated by the nanometers­ thick bacterial flagella. Unlike their isotropic counterpart, the LLCs show collective dynamic effects at very low volume fraction of bacteria, on the order of 0.2%. Our work suggests an unorthodox design concept to control and manipulate the dynamic behavior of soft active matter and opens the door for potential biosensing and biomedical applications.« less

Anomalous temperature dependence of layer spacing of de Vries liquid crystals: Compensation model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Merkel, K.; Kocot, A.; Vij, J. K., E-mail: jvij@tcd.ie

Smectic liquid crystals that exhibit temperature independent layer thickness offer technological advantages for their use in displays and photonic devices. The dependence of the layer spacing in SmA and SmC phases of de Vries liquid crystals is found to exhibit distinct features. On entering the SmC phase, the layer thickness initially decreases below SmA to SmC (T{sub A–C}) transition temperature but increases anomalously with reducing temperature despite the molecular tilt increasing. This anomalous observation is being explained quantitatively. Results of IR spectroscopy show that layer shrinkage is caused by tilt of the mesogen's rigid core, whereas the expansion is causedmore » by the chains getting more ordered with reducing temperature. This mutual compensation arising from molecular fragments contributing to the layer thickness differs from the previous models. The orientational order parameter of the rigid core of the mesogen provides direct evidence for de Vries cone model in the SmA phase for the two compounds investigated.« less

Neutron scattering as a probe of liquid crystal polymer-reinforced composite materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hjelm, R.P.; Douglas, E.P.; Benicewicz, B.C.

1995-12-31

This is the final report of a three-year Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This research project sought to obtain nanoscale and molecular level information on the mechanism of reinforcement in liquid crystal polymer (LCP)-reinforced composites, to realize molecular-reinforced LCP composites, and to test the validity of the concept of molecular reinforcement. Small-angle neutron scattering was used to study the structures in the ternary phase diagram of LCP with liquid crystal thermosets and solvent on length scales ranging from 1-100 nm. The goal of the scattering measurements is to understand the phase morphologymore » and degree of segregation of the reinforcing and matrix components. This information helps elucidate the physics of self assembly in these systems. This work provides an experimental basis for a microengineering approach to composites of vastly improved properties.« less

Characterization of depolarizing fringing fields of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator for laser beam steering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haellstig, Emil J.; Martin, Torleif; Stigwall, Johan; Sjoqvist, Lars; Lindgren, Mikael

2004-02-01

A commercial linear one-dimensional, 1x4096 pixels, zero-twist nematic liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM), giving more than 2π phase modulation at λ = 850 nm, was evaluated for beam steering applications. The large ratio (7:1) between the liquid crystal layer thickness and pixel width gives rise to voltage leakage and fringing fields between pixels. Due to the fringing fields the ideal calculated phase patterns cannot be perfectly realized by the device. Losses in high frequency components in the phase patterns were found to limit the maximum deflection angle. The inhomogeneous optical anisotropy of the SLM was determined by modelling of the liquid crystal director distribution within the electrode-pixel structure. The effects of the fringing fields on the amplitude and phase modulation were studied by full vector finite-difference time-domain simulations. It was found that the fringing fields also resulted in coupling into an unwanted polarization mode. Measurements of how this mode coupling affects the beam steering quality were carried out and the results compared with calculated results. A method to compensate for the fringing field effects is discussed and it is shown how the usable steering range of the SLM can be extended to +/- 2 degrees.

Liquid crystals in tribology.

PubMed

Carrión, Francisco-José; Martínez-Nicolás, Ginés; Iglesias, Patricia; Sanes, José; Bermúdez, María-Dolores

2009-09-18

Two decades ago, the literature dealing with the possible applications of low molar mass liquid crystals, also called monomer liquid crystals (MLCs), only included about 50 references. Today, thousands of papers, conference reports, books or book chapters and patents refer to the study and applications of MLCs as lubricants and lubricant additives and efforts are made to develop new commercial applications. The development of more efficient lubricants is of paramount technological and economic relevance as it is estimated that half the energy consumption is dissipated as friction. MLCs have shown their ability to form ordered boundary layers with good load-carrying capacity and to lower the friction coefficients, wear rates and contact temperature of sliding surfaces, thus contributing to increase the components service life and to save energy. This review includes the use of MLCs in lubrication, and dispersions of MLCs in conventional polymers (PDMLCs). Finally, new lubricating system composed of MLC blends with surfactants, ionic liquids or nanophases are considered.

Liquid Crystals in Tribology

PubMed Central

Carrión, Francisco-José; Martínez-Nicolás, Ginés; Iglesias, Patricia; Sanes, José; Bermúdez, María-Dolores

2009-01-01

Two decades ago, the literature dealing with the possible applications of low molar mass liquid crystals, also called monomer liquid crystals (MLCs), only included about 50 references. Today, thousands of papers, conference reports, books or book chapters and patents refer to the study and applications of MLCs as lubricants and lubricant additives and efforts are made to develop new commercial applications. The development of more efficient lubricants is of paramount technological and economic relevance as it is estimated that half the energy consumption is dissipated as friction. MLCs have shown their ability to form ordered boundary layers with good load-carrying capacity and to lower the friction coefficients, wear rates and contact temperature of sliding surfaces, thus contributing to increase the components service life and to save energy. This review includes the use of MLCs in lubrication, and dispersions of MLCs in conventional polymers (PDMLCs). Finally, new lubricating system composed of MLC blends with surfactants, ionic liquids or nanophases are considered. PMID:19865534

Electroclinic effect in a chiral carbosilane-terminated 5-phenylpyrimidine liquid crystal with 'de Vries-like' properties.

PubMed

Schubert, Christopher P J; Müller, Carsten; Wand, Michael D; Giesselmann, Frank; Lemieux, Robert P

2015-08-14

The chiral carbosilane-terminated liquid crystal 2-[(2S,3S)-2,3-difluorohexyloxy]-5-[4-(12,12,14,14,16,16-hexamethyl-12,14,16-trisilaheptadecyloxy)phenyl]pyrimidine () undergoes a smectic A*-smectic C* phase transition with a maximum layer contraction of only 0.2%. It exhibits an electroclinic effect (ECE) comparable to that reported for the 'de Vries-like' liquid crystal and shows no appreciable optical stripe defects due to horizontal chevron formation.

Synthesis, characterization and intramolecular cyclisation study of three new liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saïdat, B.; Guermouche, M. H.; Bayle, J.-P.

2004-12-01

Internal cyclization of three new phenyldiazene liquid crystals (R is an alkyl substituent with 4, 6 or 8 carbons) with activated methylene group in the ortho position to the diazo linkage was studied . The initial liquid crystals was synthesised and characterized by ^1H NMR, electrospray mass spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The final compound was characterized by ^1H NMR and differential scanning calorimetry. The kinetic of cyclization was studied at different temperatures and followed by reversed phase HPLC and a UV detection. For all the temperatures used, it appeared that the cyclisation was a first order reaction for the three compounds. The Arrhenius plot (ln reaction constant k against 1000/T) gave the mean activation energy of the cyclisation.

Role of Precursor-Conversion Chemistry in the Crystal-Phase Control of Catalytically Grown Colloidal Semiconductor Quantum Wires.

PubMed

Wang, Fudong; Buhro, William E

2017-12-26

Crystal-phase control is one of the most challenging problems in nanowire growth. We demonstrate that, in the solution-phase catalyzed growth of colloidal cadmium telluride (CdTe) quantum wires (QWs), the crystal phase can be controlled by manipulating the reaction chemistry of the Cd precursors and tri-n-octylphosphine telluride (TOPTe) to favor the production of either a CdTe solute or Te, which consequently determines the composition and (liquid or solid) state of the Bi x Cd y Te z catalyst nanoparticles. Growth of single-phase (e.g., wurtzite) QWs is achieved only from solid catalysts (y ≪ z) that enable the solution-solid-solid growth of the QWs, whereas the liquid catalysts (y ≈ z) fulfill the solution-liquid-solid growth of the polytypic QWs. Factors that affect the precursor-conversion chemistry are systematically accounted for, which are correlated with a kinetic study of the composition and state of the catalyst nanoparticles to understand the mechanism. This work reveals the role of the precursor-reaction chemistry in the crystal-phase control of catalytically grown colloidal QWs, opening the possibility of growing phase-pure QWs of other compositions.

Effect of elastic constants of liquid crystals in their electro-optical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parang, Z.; Ghaffary, T.; Gharahbeigi, M. M.

Recently following the success of the density functional theory (DFT) in obtaining the structure and thermodynamics of homogeneous and inhomogeneous classical systems such as simple fluids, dipolar fluid and binary hard spheres, this theory was also applied to obtain the density profile of a molecular fluid in between hard planar walls by Kalpaxis and Rickayzen. In the theory of molecular fluids, the direct correlation function (DCF) can be used to calculate the equation of state, free energy, phase transition, elastic constants, etc. It is well known that the hard core molecular models play an important role in understanding complex liquids such as liquid crystals. In this paper, a classical fluid of nonspherical molecules is studied. The required homogeneous (DCF) is obtained by solving Orenstein-Zernike (OZ) integral equation numerically. Some of the molecules in the liquid crystals have a sphere shape and this kind of molecular fluid is considered here. The DCF sphere of the molecular fluid is calculated and it will be shown that the results are in good agreement with the pervious works and the results of computer simulation. Finally the electro-optical properties of ellipsoid liquid crystal using DCF of these molecules are calculated.

A study of substrate-liquid crystal interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Baoshe

This thesis concerns the study of substrate-liquid crystal interaction from two different angles. In one approach, we used the IPS (in-plane switching) technique to investigate the liquid crystal alignment by rubbed polyimide films. The IPS mode of liquid crystal cell operation is facilitated through comb electrodes capable of producing planar electric field. We have fabricated comb electrodes with a periodicity of 2 mum in order to confine the planar electric field close to the liquid crystal-substrate interface. Through optical transmittance measurements and comparison with theoretical predictions based on the Ladau-de Gennes formalism, we found the experimental data to be consistent with the physical picture of soft anchoring, in which the liquid crystal director at the substrate interface is rotated azimuthally under the planar electric field. As a result, we were able to obtain the azimuthal anchoring strength as a fitting parameter of the theory. This part of the thesis thus presents evidence(s) for director switching at the liquid crystal-substrate interface, as well as a method for measuring the azimuthal anchoring strength through optical means. In the second approach, we used nano-lithographic technique to fabricate textured two dimensional periodic patterns on silicon wafers, and examined the resulting liquid crystal alignment effect of such textured substrates. It was found that with decreasing periodicity, there exists an orientational transition from a state in which the liquid crystal alignment copies the substrate pattern at larger periodicity, to a state of uniform alignment at smaller periodicity. In our system, this transition occurs at a periodicity between 0.4 mum and 0.8 mum. Through theoretical simulations based on the model of competition between the elastic distortion energy and the interfacial anchoring potential, it was found that there is indeed a first-order abrupt transition when the periodicity is decreased. This is due to the fact

Abnormal gas-liquid-solid phase transition behaviour of water observed with in situ environmental SEM.

PubMed

Chen, Xin; Shu, Jiapei; Chen, Qing

2017-04-24

Gas-liquid-solid phase transition behaviour of water is studied with environmental scanning electron microscopy for the first time. Abnormal phenomena are observed. At a fixed pressure of 450 Pa, with the temperature set to -7 °C, direct desublimation happens, and ice grows continuously along the substrate surface. At 550 Pa, although ice is the stable phase according to the phase diagram, metastable liquid droplets first nucleate and grow to ~100-200 μm sizes. Ice crystals nucleate within the large sized droplets, grow up and fill up the droplets. Later, the ice crystals grow continuously through desublimation. At 600 Pa, the metastable liquid grows quickly, with some ice nuclei floating in it, and the liquid-solid coexistence state exists for a long time. By lowering the vapour pressure and/or increasing the substrate temperature, ice sublimates into vapour phase, and especially, the remaining ice forms a porous structure due to preferential sublimation in the concave regions, which can be explained with surface tension effect. Interestingly, although it should be forbidden for ice to transform into liquid phase when the temperature is well below 0 °C, liquid like droplets form during the ice sublimation process, which is attributed to the surface tension effect and the quasiliquid layers.

Magneto-optic garnet and liquid crystal optical switches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krawczak, J. A.; Torok, E. J.; Harvey, W. A.; Hewitt, F. G.; Nelson, G. L.

1984-01-01

Magnetic stripe domain and liquid crystal devices are being developed and evaluated as fiber optic switches that can be utilized for nonblocking type nxm optical matrix switches in networking and optical processing. Liquid crystal switches are characterized by very low insertion loss and crosstalk, while stripe domain switches commutate in less than one microsecond. Both switches operate on multimode, randomly polarized fiber light with potentially large values for (n,m). The applications of these magnetic stripe domain and liquid crystal devices are discussed.

Reverse-mode thermoresponsive light attenuators produced by optical anisotropic composites of nematic liquid crystals and reactive mesogens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakiuchida, Hiroshi; Ogiwara, Akifumi

2018-04-01

Polymer network liquid crystals (PNLCs) whose optical transmittance state switches between transparence at low temperatures and haze at high temperatures were fabricated from mixtures of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) and reactive mesogens (RMs). This PNLC structure is simple but effective, namely, consists of micro-scale domains of orientation-ordered LCs and anisotropically polymerized RMs. The domains form through photopolymerization induced phase separation with inhomogeneous irradiation projected by laser speckling techniques. This irradiation method enables you to control the size and shape of phase-separation domains, and these PNLCs can be applied to novel thermoresponsive optical devices; optical isolators, thermometric sheets, and smart windows.

Liquid Crystal Phase Behaviour of Attractive Disc-Like Particles

PubMed Central

Wu, Liang; Jackson, George; Müller, Erich A.

2013-01-01

We employ a generalized van der Waals-Onsager perturbation theory to construct a free energy functional capable of describing the thermodynamic properties and orientational order of the isotropic and nematic phases of attractive disc particles. The model mesogen is a hard (purely repulsive) cylindrical disc particle decorated with an anisotropic square-well attractive potential placed at the centre of mass. Even for isotropic attractive interactions, the resulting overall inter-particle potential is anisotropic, due to the orientation-dependent excluded volume of the underlying hard core. An algebraic equation of state for attractive disc particles is developed by adopting the Onsager trial function to characterize the orientational order in the nematic phase. The theory is then used to represent the fluid-phase behaviour (vapour-liquid, isotropic-nematic, and nematic-nematic) of the oblate attractive particles for varying values of the molecular aspect ratio and parameters of the attractive potential. When compared to the phase diagram of their athermal analogues, it is seen that the addition of an attractive interaction facilitates the formation of orientationally-ordered phases. Most interestingly, for certain aspect ratios, a coexistence between two anisotropic nematic phases is exhibited by the attractive disc-like fluids. PMID:23965962

Liquid crystal phase behaviour of attractive disc-like particles.

PubMed

Wu, Liang; Jackson, George; Müller, Erich A

2013-08-08

We employ a generalized van der Waals-Onsager perturbation theory to construct a free energy functional capable of describing the thermodynamic properties and orientational order of the isotropic and nematic phases of attractive disc particles. The model mesogen is a hard (purely repulsive) cylindrical disc particle decorated with an anisotropic square-well attractive potential placed at the centre of mass. Even for isotropic attractive interactions, the resulting overall inter-particle potential is anisotropic, due to the orientation-dependent excluded volume of the underlying hard core. An algebraic equation of state for attractive disc particles is developed by adopting the Onsager trial function to characterize the orientational order in the nematic phase. The theory is then used to represent the fluid-phase behaviour (vapour-liquid, isotropic-nematic, and nematic-nematic) of the oblate attractive particles for varying values of the molecular aspect ratio and parameters of the attractive potential. When compared to the phase diagram of their athermal analogues, it is seen that the addition of an attractive interaction facilitates the formation of orientationally-ordered phases. Most interestingly, for certain aspect ratios, a coexistence between two anisotropic nematic phases is exhibited by the attractive disc-like fluids.

A Cost-Effective Optical Device for the Characterization of Liquid Crystals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millier, Brian; Aleman Milán, Gianna

2014-01-01

The design and construction of an apparatus to measure the optical birefringence of a liquid crystal is described. The instrument also includes temperature control and monitoring circuitry to allow for the measurement of the nematic-to-isotropic phase transition temperature. An important feature of this design is that the students are able to…

Note: Laser beam scanning using a ferroelectric liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Abhijit; Boruah, Bosanta R.

2014-04-01

In this work we describe laser beam scanning using a ferroelectric liquid crystal spatial light modulator. Commercially available ferroelectric liquid crystal spatial light modulators are capable of displaying 85 colored images in 1 s using a time dithering technique. Each colored image, in fact, comprises 24 single bit (black and white) images displayed sequentially. We have used each single bit image to write a binary phase hologram. For a collimated laser beam incident on the hologram, one of the diffracted beams can be made to travel along a user defined direction. We have constructed a beam scanner employing the above arrangement and demonstrated its use to scan a single laser beam in a laser scanning optical sectioning microscope setup.

Orientation dynamics in isotropic phases of model oligofluorenes: glass or liquid crystal.

PubMed

Somma, E; Chi, C; Loppinet, B; Grinshtein, J; Graf, R; Fytas, G; Spiess, H W; Wegner, G

2006-05-28

Orientation molecular dynamics were investigated in a series of "defect-free" oligofluorenes by depolarized dynamic light scattering and dynamic NMR spectroscopy. Typical liquid crystalline pretransitional dynamics were observed upon cooling the isotropic phase to the liquid crystalline phase with strong increase of the scattered intensity and slowing down of the characteristic time of the probed collective relaxation. This is well accounted for by the Landau-de Gennes theory, however, with a strong temperature dependence of the viscosity coefficient, reflecting the proximity of the glass transition. For the trimer the two transitions almost overlap and the molecular orientation coincide with the alpha-relaxation associated with the glass transition. The NMR measurements confirm that the time scale of the dynamics is completely governed by the glass process, yet the geometry of the motion is anisotropic, yielding order parameters ranging from 0.15 to 0.25 for the long axis in the liquid crystalline phase. The glass transition is therefore geometrically restricted with poorly ordered mesophase which is consistent with the weak transverse phonons in the light scattering experiment down to Tg+20 K.

Liquid nitrogen dewar for protein crystal growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar apparatus developed by Dr. Alex McPherson of the University of California, Irvine for use aboard Mir and the International Space Station allows large quantities of protein samples to be crystallized in orbit. The specimens are contained either in plastic tubing (heat-sealed at each end). Biological samples are prepared with a precipitating agent in either a batch or liquid-liquid diffusion configuration. The samples are then flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen before crystallization can start. On orbit, the Dewar is placed in a quiet area of the station and the nitrogen slowly boils off (it is taken up by the environmental control system), allowing the proteins to thaw to begin crystallization. The Dewar is returned to Earth after one to four months on orbit, depending on Shuttle flight opportunities. The tubes then are analyzed for crystal presence and quality

Thermally switchable photonic band-edge to random laser emission in dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Lihua; Wang, Yan; Feng, Yangyang; Liu, Bo; Gu, Bing; Cui, Yiping; Lu, Yanqing

2018-03-01

By changing the doping concentration of the chiral agent to adjust the relative position of the reflection band of cholesteric liquid crystals and the fluorescence emission spectrum of the dye, photonic band-edge and random lasing were observed, respectively. The reflection band of the cholesteric phase liquid crystal can also be controlled by adjusting the temperature: the reflection band is blue-shifted with increasing temperature, and a reversible switch from photonic band-edge to random lasing is obtained. Furthermore, the laser line width can be thermally adjusted from 1.1 nm (at 27 °C) to 4.6 nm (at 32.1 °C). A thermally tunable polarization state of a random laser from dual cells was observed, broadening the field of application liquid crystal random lasers.

Formulation and characterization of liquid crystal systems containing azelaic acid for topical delivery.

PubMed

Aytekin, Merve; Gursoy, R Neslihan; Ide, Semra; Soylu, Elif H; Hekimoglu, Sueda

2013-02-01

The aim of this study is to prepare and characterize azelaic acid (AzA) containing liquid crystal (LC) drug delivery systems for topical use. Two ternary phase diagrams, containing liquid paraffin as the oil component and a mixture of two nonionic surfactants (Brij 721P and Brij 72), were constructed. Formulations chosen from the phase diagrams were characterized by polarized light microscopy, rheological analyses, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small angle x-ray scattering spectroscopy. Polarized light microscopy proved that except the oil/water emulsion (O/W E), other formulations showed lamellar LC structure. In vitro release studies indicated that the fastest release was achieved by the Lamellar LC (LLC) and O/W E systems, whereas slower release was obtained from the emulsion containing lamellar LC (E-LLC) and distorted lamellar LC (D-LLC) systems. Results of rheological measurements both supported the results of in vitro release studies and showed that the emulsion containing the LC (E-LLC) system had the most stable structure. The formulations and their effect on stratum corneum (SC) were evaluated by DSC studies. The lamellar LC (LLC), emulsion containing lamellar liquid crystal (E-LLC), and O/W E formulations had an effect on both lipid and protein components of SC, whereas distorted lamellar liquid crystal (D-LLC) system had an effect on only the lipid components of SC. LLC systems could be considered promising for the topical delivery of AzA.

Field induced heliconical structure of cholesteric liquid crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lavrentovich, Oleg D.; Shiyanovsii, Sergij V.; Xiang, Jie

A diffraction grating comprises a liquid crystal (LC) cell configured to apply an electric field through a cholesteric LC material that induces the cholesteric LC material into a heliconical state with an oblique helicoid director. The applied electric field produces diffracted light from the cholesteric LC material within the visible, infrared or ultraviolet. The axis of the heliconical state is in the plane of the liquid crystal cell or perpendicular to the plane, depending on the application. A color tuning device operates with a similar heliconical state liquid crystal material but with the heliconical director axis oriented perpendicular to themore » plane of the cell. A power generator varies the strength of the applied electric field to adjust the wavelength of light reflected from the cholesteric liquid crystal material within the visible, infrared or ultraviolet.« less

Molecular recognition in chiral smectic liquid crystals: the effect of core-core interactions and chirality transfer on polar order.

PubMed

Lemieux, Robert P

2007-12-01

This critical review focuses on the induction of polar order in smectic liquid crystal phases by dopants with axially chiral cores, and should be of interest to all practitioners of supramolecular chemistry. The variations in polarization power of these dopants with the core structure of the liquid crystal hosts is a manifestation of molecular recognition that reflects the nanosegregation of aromatic cores from paraffinic side-chains in smectic phases, and the collective effect of core-core interactions that enable the propagation of chiral perturbations.

Molecular engineering of colloidal liquid crystals using DNA origami

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siavashpouri, Mahsa; Wachauf, Christian; Zakhary, Mark; Praetorius, Florian; Dietz, Hendrik; Dogic, Zvonimir

Understanding the microscopic origin of cholesteric phase remains a foundational, yet unresolved problem in the field of liquid crystals. Lack of experimental model system that allows for the systematic control of the microscopic chiral structure makes it difficult to investigate this problem for several years. Here, using DNA origami technology, we systematically vary the chirality of the colloidal particles with molecular precision and establish a quantitative relationship between the microscopic structure of particles and the macroscopic cholesteric pitch. Our study presents a new methodology for predicting bulk behavior of diverse phases based on the microscopic architectures of the constituent molecules.

Spatial resolution limitation of liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xinghua; Wang, Bin; McManamon, Paul F., III; Pouch, John J.; Miranda, Felix A.; Anderson, James E.; Bos, Philip J.

2004-10-01

The effect of fringing electric fields in a liquid crystal (LC) Optical Phased Array (OPA), also referred to as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is a governing factor that determines the diffraction efficiency (DE) of the LC OPA for high resolution spatial phase modulation. In this article, the fringing field effect in a high resolution LC OPA is studied by accurate modeling the DE of the LC blazed gratings by LC director simulation and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation. Influence factors that contribute significantly to the DE are discussed. Such results provide fundamental understanding for high resolution LC devices.

Polarization digital holographic microscopy using low-cost liquid crystal polarization rotators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dovhaliuk, Rostyslav Yu

2018-02-01

Polarization imaging methods are actively used to study anisotropic objects. A number of methods and systems, such as imaging polarimeters, were proposed to measure the state of polarization of light that passed through the object. Digital holographic and interferometric approaches can be used to quantitatively measure both amplitude and phase of a wavefront. Using polarization modulation optics, the measurement capabilities of such interference-based systems can be extended to measure polarization-dependent parameters, such as phase retardation. Different kinds of polarization rotators can be used to alternate the polarization of a reference beam. Liquid crystals are used in a rapidly increasing number of different optoelectronic devices. Twisted nematic liquid crystals are widely used as amplitude modulators in electronic displays and light valves or shutter glass. Such devices are of particular interest for polarization imaging, as they can be used as polarization rotators, and due to large-scale manufacturing have relatively low cost. A simple Mach-Zehnder polarized holographic setup that uses modified shutter glass as a polarization rotator is demonstrated. The suggested approach is experimentally validated by measuring retardation of quarter-wave film.

Phase-field crystal modeling of heteroepitaxy and exotic modes of crystal nucleation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podmaniczky, Frigyes; Tóth, Gyula I.; Tegze, György; Pusztai, Tamás; Gránásy, László

2017-01-01

We review recent advances made in modeling heteroepitaxy, two-step nucleation, and nucleation at the growth front within the framework of a simple dynamical density functional theory, the Phase-Field Crystal (PFC) model. The crystalline substrate is represented by spatially confined periodic potentials. We investigate the misfit dependence of the critical thickness in the StranskiKrastanov growth mode in isothermal studies. Apparently, the simulation results for stress release via the misfit dislocations fit better to the PeopleBean model than to the one by Matthews and Blakeslee. Next, we investigate structural aspects of two-step crystal nucleation at high undercoolings, where an amorphous precursor forms in the first stage. Finally, we present results for the formation of new grains at the solid-liquid interface at high supersaturations/supercoolings, a phenomenon termed Growth Front Nucleation (GFN). Results obtained with diffusive dynamics (applicable to colloids) and with a hydrodynamic extension of the PFC theory (HPFC, developed for simple liquids) will be compared. The HPFC simulations indicate two possible mechanisms for GFN.

Phase transition analysis of V-shaped liquid crystal: Combined temperature-dependent FTIR and density functional theory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Swapnil; Singh, Harshita; Karthick, T.; Tandon, Poonam; Prasad, Veena

2018-01-01

Temperature-dependent Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with density functional theory (DFT) is employed to study the mechanism of phase transitions of V-shaped bent-core liquid crystal. Since it has a large number of flexible bonds, one-dimensional potential energy scan (PES) was performed on the flexible bonds and predicted the most stable conformer I. A detailed analysis of vibrational normal modes of conformer I have been done on the basis of potential energy distribution. The good agreement between the calculated spectrum of conformer I and observed FTIR spectrum at room temperature validates our theoretical structure model. Furthermore, the prominent changes observed in the stretching vibrational bands of CH3/CH2, Cdbnd O, ring CC, ring CO, ring CH in-plane bending, and ring CH out-of-plane bending at Iso → nematic phase transition (at 155 °C) have been illustrated. However, the minor changes in the spectral features observed for the other phase transitions might be due to the shape or bulkiness of molecules. Combined FTIR and PES study beautifully explained the dynamics of the molecules, molecular realignment, H-bonding, and conformational changes at the phase transitions.

NMR signal analysis to attribute the components to the solid/liquid phases present in mixes and ice creams.

PubMed

Mariette, François; Lucas, Tiphaine

2005-03-09

The NMR relaxation signals from complex products such as ice cream are hard to interpret because of the multiexponential behavior of the relaxation signal and the difficulty of attributing the NMR relaxation components to specific molecule fractions. An attribution of the NMR relaxation parameters is proposed, however, based on an approach that combines quantitative analysis of the spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation times and the signal intensities with characterization of the ice cream components. We have been able to show that NMR can be used to describe the crystallized and liquid phases separately. The first component of the spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation describes the behavior of the protons of the crystallized fat in the mix. The amount of fat crystals can then be estimated. In the case of ice cream, only the spin-lattice relaxation signal from the crystallized fraction is relevant. However, it enables the ice protons and the protons of the crystallized fat to be distinguished. The spin-lattice relaxation time can be used to describe the mobility of the protons in the different crystallized phases and also to quantify the amount of ice crystals and fat crystals in the ice cream. The NMR relaxation of the liquid phase of the mix has a biexponential behavior. A first component is attributable to the liquid fraction of the fat and to the sugars, while a second component is attributable to the aqueous phase. Overall, the study shows that despite the complexity of the NMR signal from ice cream, a number of relevant parameters can be extracted to study the influence of the formulation and of the process stages on the ice fraction, the crystallized fat fraction, and the liquid aqueous fraction.

Naturally occurring reverse tilt domains in a high-pretilt alignment nematic liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ruiting; Atherton, Timothy J.; Zhu, Minhua; Petschek, Rolfe G.; Rosenblatt, Charles

2007-08-01

A cell whose substrates were coated with the polyamic acid SE1211 (Nissan Chemical Industries) and baked at high temperatures was filled with a nematic liquid crystal in the isotropic phase. On cooling into the nematic phase, naturally occurring and temporally and thermally robust reverse tilt domains separated by thin filamentlike walls were observed. The properties of these structures are reported.

Thermal conductivity of Glycerol’s liquid, glass, and crystal states, glass-liquid-glass transition, and crystallization at high pressures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andersson, Ove; Johari, G. P., E-mail: joharig@mcmaster.ca

2016-02-14

To investigate the effects of local density fluctuations on phonon propagation in a hydrogen bonded structure, we studied the thermal conductivity κ of the crystal, liquid, and glassy states of pure glycerol as a function of the temperature, T, and the pressure, p. We find that the following: (i) κ{sub crystal} is 3.6-times the κ{sub liquid} value at 140 K at 0.1 MPa and 2.2-times at 290 K, and it varies with T according to 138 × T{sup −0.95}; (ii) the ratio κ{sub liquid} (p)/κ{sub liquid} (0.1 MPa) is 1.45 GPa{sup −1} at 280 K, which, unexpectedly, is about themore » same as κ{sub crystal} (p)/κ{sub crystal} (0.1 MPa) of 1.42 GPa{sup −1} at 298 K; (iii) κ{sub glass} is relatively insensitive to T but sensitive to the applied p (1.38 GPa{sup −1} at 150 K); (iv) κ{sub glass}-T plots show an enhanced, pressure-dependent peak-like feature, which is due to the glass to liquid transition on heating; (v) continuous heating cold-crystallizes ultraviscous glycerol under pressure, at a higher T when p is high; and (vi) glycerol formed by cooling at a high p and then measured at a low p has a significantly higher κ than the glass formed by cooling at a low p. On heating at a fixed low p, its κ decreases before its glass-liquid transition range at that p is reached. We attribute this effect to thermally assisted loss of the configurational and vibrational instabilities of a glass formed at high p and recovered at low p, which is different from the usual glass-aging effect. While the heat capacity, entropy, and volume of glycerol crystal are less than those for its glass and liquid, κ{sub crystal} of glycerol, like its elastic modulus and refractive index, is higher. We discuss these findings in terms of the role of fluctuations in local density and structure, and the relations between κ and the thermodynamic quantities.« less

Investigation of ferroelectric liquid crystal orientation in the silica microcapillaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budaszewski, D.; Domański, A. W.; Woliński, T. R.

2013-05-01

In the paper we present our recent results concerning the orientation of ferroelectric liquid crystal molecules inside silica micro capillaries. We have infiltrated the silica micro capillaries with experimental ferroelectric liquid crystal material W-260K synthesized in the Military University of Technology. The infiltrated micro capillaries were observed under the polarization microscope while both a polarizer and an analyzer were crossed. The studies on the orientation of ferroelectric liquid crystal molecules may contribute to further studies on behavior of this group of liquid crystal materials inside photonic crystal fiber. The obtained results may lead to design of a new type of fast optical fiber sensors.

Optical simulation of quantum algorithms using programmable liquid-crystal displays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Puentes, Graciana; La Mela, Cecilia; Ledesma, Silvia

2004-04-01

We present a scheme to perform an all optical simulation of quantum algorithms and maps. The main components are lenses to efficiently implement the Fourier transform and programmable liquid-crystal displays to introduce space dependent phase changes on a classical optical beam. We show how to simulate Deutsch-Jozsa and Grover's quantum algorithms using essentially the same optical array programmed in two different ways.

Liquid-Crystal-Enabled Active Plasmonics: A Review

PubMed Central

Si, Guangyuan; Zhao, Yanhui; Leong, Eunice Sok Ping; Liu, Yan Jun

2014-01-01

Liquid crystals are a promising candidate for development of active plasmonics due to their large birefringence, low driving threshold, and versatile driving methods. We review recent progress on the interdisciplinary research field of liquid crystal based plasmonics. The research scope of this field is to build the next generation of reconfigurable plasmonic devices by combining liquid crystals with plasmonic nanostructures. Various active plasmonic devices, such as switches, modulators, color filters, absorbers, have been demonstrated. This review is structured to cover active plasmonic devices from two aspects: functionalities and driven methods. We hope this review would provide basic knowledge for a new researcher to get familiar with the field, and serve as a reference for experienced researchers to keep up the current research trends. PMID:28788515

Synthesis and Exfoliation of Discotic Zirconium Phosphates to Obtain Colloidal Liquid Crystals

PubMed Central

Yu, Yi-Hsien; Wang, Xuezhen; Shinde, Abhijeet; Cheng, Zhengdong

2016-01-01

Due to their abundance in natural clay and potential applications in advanced materials, discotic nanoparticles are of interest to scientists and engineers. Growth of such anisotropic nanocrystals through a simple chemical method is a challenging task. In this study, we fabricate discotic nanodisks of zirconium phosphate [Zr(HPO4)2·H2O] as a model material using hydrothermal, reflux and microwave-assisted methods. Growth of crystals is controlled by duration time, temperature, and concentration of reacting species. The novelty of the adopted methods is that discotic crystals of size ranging from hundred nanometers to few micrometers can be obtained while keeping the polydispersity well within control. The layered discotic crystals are converted to monolayers by exfoliation with tetra-(n)-butyl ammonium hydroxide [(C4H9)4NOH, TBAOH]. Exfoliated disks show isotropic and nematic liquid crystal phases. Size and polydispersity of disk suspensions is highly important in deciding their phase behavior. PMID:27284765

Reflective liquid crystal light valve with hybrid field effect mode

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boswell, Donald D. (Inventor); Grinberg, Jan (Inventor); Jacobson, Alexander D. (Inventor); Myer, Gary D. (Inventor)

1977-01-01

There is disclosed a high performance reflective mode liquid crystal light valve suitable for general image processing and projection and particularly suited for application to real-time coherent optical data processing. A preferred example of the device uses a CdS photoconductor, a CdTe light absorbing layer, a dielectric mirror, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between indium-tin-oxide transparent electrodes deposited on optical quality glass flats. The non-coherent light image is directed onto the photoconductor; this reduces the impedance of the photoconductor, thereby switching the AC voltage that is impressed across the electrodes onto the liquid crystal to activate the device. The liquid crystal is operated in a hybrid field effect mode. It utilizes the twisted nematic effect to create a dark off-state (voltage off the liquid crystal) and the optical birefringence effect to create the bright on-state. The liquid crystal thus modulates the polarization of the coherent read-out or projection light responsively to the non-coherent image. An analyzer is used to create an intensity modulated output beam.

21 CFR 880.2200 - Liquid crystal forehead temperature strip.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... color changes of heat sensitive liquid crystals corresponding to the variation in the surface temperature of the skin. The liquid crystals, which are cholesteric esters, are sealed in plastic. (b...

21 CFR 880.2200 - Liquid crystal forehead temperature strip.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... color changes of heat sensitive liquid crystals corresponding to the variation in the surface temperature of the skin. The liquid crystals, which are cholesteric esters, are sealed in plastic. (b...

21 CFR 880.2200 - Liquid crystal forehead temperature strip.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... color changes of heat sensitive liquid crystals corresponding to the variation in the surface temperature of the skin. The liquid crystals, which are cholesteric esters, are sealed in plastic. (b...

21 CFR 880.2200 - Liquid crystal forehead temperature strip.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... color changes of heat sensitive liquid crystals corresponding to the variation in the surface temperature of the skin. The liquid crystals, which are cholesteric esters, are sealed in plastic. (b...

21 CFR 880.2200 - Liquid crystal forehead temperature strip.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... color changes of heat sensitive liquid crystals corresponding to the variation in the surface temperature of the skin. The liquid crystals, which are cholesteric esters, are sealed in plastic. (b...

Study on the generation of a vortex laser beam by using phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Haotong; Hu, Haojun; Xie, Wenke; Xu, Xiaojun

2013-09-01

The generation of vortex laser beam by using phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) combined with the spiral phase screen is experimentally and theoretically studied. Results show that Gaussian and dark hollow vortex laser beams can be generated by using this method successfully. Differing with the Gaussian and dark hollow beams, far field intensities of the generated vortex laser beams still exhibit dark hollow distributions. The comparisons between the ideal generation and experimental generation of vortex laser beams with different optical topological charges by using phase only LC-SLM is investigated in detail. Compared with the ideal generated vortex laser beam, phase distribution of the experimental generated vortex laser beam contains many phase singularities, the number of which is the same as that of the optical topological charges. The corresponding near field and far field dark hollow intensity distributions of the generated vortex laser beams exhibit discontinuous in rotational direction. Detailed theoretical analysis show that the main reason for the physical phenomenon mentioned above is the response error of phase only LC-SLM. These studies can provide effective guide for the generation of vortex laser beam by using phase only LC-SLM for optical tweezers and free space optical communication.

The putative liquid-liquid transition is a liquid-solid transition in atomistic models of water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limmer, David T.; Chandler, David

2011-10-01

We use numerical simulation to examine the possibility of a reversible liquid-liquid transition in supercooled water and related systems. In particular, for two atomistic models of water, we have computed free energies as functions of multiple order parameters, where one is density and another distinguishes crystal from liquid. For a range of temperatures and pressures, separate free energy basins for liquid and crystal are found, conditions of phase coexistence between these phases are demonstrated, and time scales for equilibration are determined. We find that at no range of temperatures and pressures is there more than a single liquid basin, even at conditions where amorphous behavior is unstable with respect to the crystal. We find a similar result for a related model of silicon. This result excludes the possibility of the proposed liquid-liquid critical point for the models we have studied. Further, we argue that behaviors others have attributed to a liquid-liquid transition in water and related systems are in fact reflections of transitions between liquid and crystal.

Thermo- and electro-optical properties of photonic liquid crystal fibers doped with gold nanoparticles.

PubMed

Siarkowska, Agata; Chychłowski, Miłosz; Budaszewski, Daniel; Jankiewicz, Bartłomiej; Bartosewicz, Bartosz; Woliński, Tomasz R

2017-01-01

Thermo- and electro-optical properties of a photonic liquid crystal fiber (PLCF) enhanced by the use of dopants have been investigated. A 6CHBT nematic liquid crystal was doped with four different concentrations of gold nanoparticles (NPs), 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 wt %, for direct comparison of the influence of the dopant on the properties of the PLCF. The thermo-optical effects of the liquid crystal doped with gold NPs were compared in three setups, an LC cell, a microcapillary and within the PLCF, to determine if the observed responses to external factors are caused by the properties of the infiltration material or due to the setup configuration. The results obtained indicated that with increasing NP doping a significant reduction of the rise time under an external electric field occurs with a simultaneous decrease in the nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature, thus improving the thermo- and electro-optical properties of the PLCF.

Nonlinear geometries in liquid crystals and liquid crystalline polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dingemans, Theo Jacobus

The thermodynamic properties of thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs), and polymeric LCs are strongly dependent on mesogenic shape and in order to explore the relationships between shape and physical properties new, nonlinear geometries were examined. Symmetric oxadiazole based model compounds were synthesized and despite an internal exocyclic bond angle of 134sp° the model compounds exhibit a variety of mesophases. Conoscopic studies on bis(p-hexyloxyphenyl) 4,4sp'- (1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl) dicarboxylate in its phase Ssb{A} phase are not consistent with the uniaxial Ssb{A} phase, but rather a biaxial Ssb{CM} phase. Uniaxial and biaxial mesogenic monomers were incorporated in main-chain polyesters. Transition temperatures of the interfacially prepared polymers were higher than materials that were melt polymerized. sp{13}C NMR showed that all polymers prepared by melt condensation have random monomer sequence distributions at the diad level. Thiophene and 1,3-phenylene modified p-quinquephenyls were synthesized in order to investigate the effects of mesogen nonlinearity and dipole direction on the LC thermodynamic properties. Results indicate that shape asymmetry favors mesophase formation and stability; the thiophene dipole moment appears to have no effect. The 120sp° exocyclic bond angle disrupts liquid crystallinity in 1,3-phenylene derivatives. Additionally the placement of 2,5-thiophene in "p-quinquephenyls" affects a red shift in its UV absorption. This was exploited in single layer light emitting diodes (LEDs) to tune the electroluminescence emission. In double layer LEDs these compounds function as efficient hole transport materials with high light outputs. Ferroelectric LCs derived from isoleucine were synthesized and shown to have spontaneous polarizations that are a strong function of halogen size (F > Cl > Br).

Effects of polymers on the rotational viscosities of nematic liquid crystals and dynamics of field alignment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, D.

Many of the important physical phenomena exhibited by the nematic phase, such as its unusual flow properties and its responses to the electric and the magnetic fields, can be discussed regarding it as a continous medium. The Leslie-Erickson dynamic theory has the six dissipative coefficients from continuum model of liquid crystal. Parodi showed that only five of them are independent, when Onsagar`s reciprocal relations are used. One of these, which has no counterpart in the isotropic liquids, is the rotational viscosity co-efficient, {gamma}{sub 1}. The main objective of this project is to study the rotational viscosities of selected micellar nematicmore » systems and the effect of dissolved polymers in micellar and thermotropic liqud crystals. We used rotating magnetic field method which allows one to determine {gamma}{sub 1} and the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility, {chi}{sub a}. For the ionic surfactant liquid crystals of SDS and KL systems used in this study, the rotational viscosity exhibited an extraordinary drop after reaching the highest values {gamma}{sub 1} as the temperature was lowered. This behavior is not observed in normal liquid crystals. But this phenomena can be attributed to the existence of nematic biaxial phase below the rod-like nematic N{sub c} phase. The pretransitional increase in {gamma}{sub 1} near the disk-like nematic to smectic-A phase transition of the pure CsPFO/H{sub 2}O systems are better understood with the help of mean-field models of W.L. McMillan. He predicted a critical exponent {nu} = {1/2} for the divergence of {gamma}{sub 1}. The polymer (PEO, molecular weight = 10{sup 5}) dissolved in CsPFO/H{sub 2}O system (which has 0.6% critical polymer concentration), suppressed the nematic to lamellar smectic phase transition in concentrated polymer solutions (0.75% and higher). In dilute polymer solutions with lower than 0.3% polyethylene-oxide, a linear increase of {gamma}{sub 1} is observed, which agrees with Brochard theory.« less