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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Orientation And Surface Anchoring Of Nematic Liquid Crystals On Linearly Polymerized Photopolymers, H. G. Galabova, David W. Allender, J. Chen
Orientation And Surface Anchoring Of Nematic Liquid Crystals On Linearly Polymerized Photopolymers, H. G. Galabova, David W. Allender, J. Chen
David W Allender
The liquid crystal orientation on a poly(vinyl cinnamate) or poly(vinyl 4-methoxy-cinnamate) coated solid substrate exposed to linearly polarized UV light has been studied. The angular distribution of the polymer side chains and the photoreaction products was derived as a function of exposure time using a simple assumption about the probability for crosslinking of two side chains. The liquid crystal was assumed to be weakly anchored to the surface but have a degree of order and orientation determined from those of the polymer side chains. The polar and the azimuthal surface coefficients were estimated as a function of exposure time using …
A Cellulose Liquid Crystal Motor: A Steam Engine Of The Second Kind, Yong Geng, Pedro Lucio Almeida, Cheng Cheng, Peter Palffy-Muhoray, Maria Helena Godinho, Susete Nogueira Fernandes
A Cellulose Liquid Crystal Motor: A Steam Engine Of The Second Kind, Yong Geng, Pedro Lucio Almeida, Cheng Cheng, Peter Palffy-Muhoray, Maria Helena Godinho, Susete Nogueira Fernandes
Peter Palffy-Muhoray
The salient feature of liquid crystal elastomers and networks is strong coupling between orientational order and mechanical strain. Orientational order can be changed by a wide variety of stimuli, including the presence of moisture. Changes in the orientation of constituents give rise to stresses and strains, which result in changes in sample shape. We have utilized this effect to build soft cellulose-based motor driven by humidity. The motor consists of a circular loop of cellulose film, which passes over two wheels. When humid air is present near one of the wheels on one side of the film, with drier air …
Effect Of Director Distortions On Morphologies Of Phase Separation In Liquid Crystals, D. Voloschenko, Oleg P. Pishnyak, Sergij V. Shiyanovskii, Oleg Lavrentovich
Effect Of Director Distortions On Morphologies Of Phase Separation In Liquid Crystals, D. Voloschenko, Oleg P. Pishnyak, Sergij V. Shiyanovskii, Oleg Lavrentovich
Oleg Lavrentovich
We study phase separation from a nematic liquid crystal with spatially nonuniform director gradients. Particles of a phase-separated component, which is either an isotropic fluid (silicone oil) or a nonmesogenic photopolymer, accumulate in the regions with the strongest director distortions, thus reducing the overall energy of the system.
Anchoring-Mediated Interaction Of Edge Dislocations With Bounding Surfaces In Confined Cholesteric Liquid Crystals, Ivan I. Smalyukh, Oleg Lavrentovich
Anchoring-Mediated Interaction Of Edge Dislocations With Bounding Surfaces In Confined Cholesteric Liquid Crystals, Ivan I. Smalyukh, Oleg Lavrentovich
Oleg Lavrentovich
We employ the fluorescent confocal polarizing microscopy to image edge dislocations in cholesteric liquid crystals. Surface anchoring at the bounding plates determines the structure and behavior of defects. Two types of plates set in-plane director orientation but differ in the type of associated anchoring potentials. Plates with strong polar anchoring and nonzero azimuthal anchoring repel the dislocations, while plates with weak polar anchoring and no azimuthal anchoring allow the dislocations to escape through the boundary. To explain the results, we propose a coarse-grained model of cholesteric anchoring.
Light-Induced Changes Of Optical And Electrical Properties In Bent-Core Azo Compounds, Antal Jakli, V. Prasad, D.S.S. Rao, Guangxun Liao, I. Janossy
Light-Induced Changes Of Optical And Electrical Properties In Bent-Core Azo Compounds, Antal Jakli, V. Prasad, D.S.S. Rao, Guangxun Liao, I. Janossy
Antal Jakli
We have studied the optical and electrical properties of two bent-core substances with an azo linkage in their cores. Pump-probe laser studies, direct textural observations, and spectrophotometric recordings show an initial decrease of light transmission, which at larger light intensities (similar to 1 mW/mm(2)) is followed by a bleaching. Simultaneously the electrical properties (electric conductivity, antiferroelectric polarization, switching threshold, and switching time) decreased monotonically with increasing light intensities. The monotonic decrease of electrical properties indicates that the darkening and bleaching have the same origin, namely, the photochemical isomerization of the azo linkage from the trans to the cis isomer. The …
Optical Studies Of The Liquid Crystal B2 Phase Formed By Banana-Shaped Molecules, D. A. Olson, M. Veum, A. Cady, M. V. D'Agostino, P. M. Johnson, H. T. Nguyen, Liang-Chy Chien, C. C. Huang
Optical Studies Of The Liquid Crystal B2 Phase Formed By Banana-Shaped Molecules, D. A. Olson, M. Veum, A. Cady, M. V. D'Agostino, P. M. Johnson, H. T. Nguyen, Liang-Chy Chien, C. C. Huang
Liang-Chy Chien
Null-transmission ellipsometry and depolarized light microscopy have been performed on free-standing films of three achiral banana-shaped compounds in the B2 phase. Our results support a two-layer unit cell previously proposed to explain the observed antiferroelectricity in thin films and bulk samples. We have studied thicker films than previously reported and have found no deviations in the film structure from the earlier findings. Moreover, we can determine the layer spacing, the molecular tilt from the layer normal, and the three principal indices of refraction in the molecular reference frame.
Material-Independent Determination Of Anchoring Properties On Rubbed Polyimide Surfaces, Bharat R. Acharya, Jae-Hoon Kim, Satyendra Kumar
Material-Independent Determination Of Anchoring Properties On Rubbed Polyimide Surfaces, Bharat R. Acharya, Jae-Hoon Kim, Satyendra Kumar
Satyendra Kumar
A material-independent method for determining liquid-crystal (LC) anchoring energy on rubbed polyimide (PI) surfaces has been devised. This method exploits the changes in the easy axis of rubbed PI film induced by exposure to linearly polarized UV (LPUV) Light. The distribution of PI chains in a rubbed film is approximated by a Gaussian function and its width determined from the measured rotation of the LC easy axis as a function of exposure time. A quasimicroscopic free energy of the LC-substrate interface is used to model LC anchoring properties. The experimental and calculated values of the azimuthal anchoring energy are in …
Surface-Induced Discrete Smectic Order In The Isotropic-Phase Of 12cb In Cylindrical Pores, Germano S. Iannacchione, Joseph T. Mang, Satyendra Kumar, Daniele Finotello
Surface-Induced Discrete Smectic Order In The Isotropic-Phase Of 12cb In Cylindrical Pores, Germano S. Iannacchione, Joseph T. Mang, Satyendra Kumar, Daniele Finotello
Satyendra Kumar
No abstract provided.
Surface-Layer Phase-Transitions In Nematic Liquid-Crystals, Natasha Kothekar, David W. Allender, R. M. Hornreich
Surface-Layer Phase-Transitions In Nematic Liquid-Crystals, Natasha Kothekar, David W. Allender, R. M. Hornreich
David W Allender
Surface-layer transitions in nematogenic materials characterized by a preferential planar surface interaction linear in the order parameter have been studied theoretically at temperatures above the bulk transition (T(NI)). The coupled Euler-Lagrange nonlinear differential equations obtained from the Landau-de Gennes free energy were solved exactly by numerical integration. This problem had been studied previously employing various limits and approximations with several differences in the phase diagram reported. The exact results allow one to determine which of these differences are artifacts of the approximations used and which are dependent upon the ratio of elastic constants. It is found, for physically relevant elastic …
Theory Of A Symmetry-Breaking Phase-Transition In A Surface-Layer Of Nematic Liquid-Crystal, Y. L'Vov, R. M. Hornreich, David W. Allender
Theory Of A Symmetry-Breaking Phase-Transition In A Surface-Layer Of Nematic Liquid-Crystal, Y. L'Vov, R. M. Hornreich, David W. Allender
David W Allender
For a surface interaction linear in the order parameter and favoring an orientation in which liquid-crystalline molecules lie parallel to the surface (but which is independent of whether the orientation is uniaxial or isotropic in the bounding plane), a symmetry-breaking phase transition in a surface layer is possible at temperatures above that of the bulk isotropic to nematic transition. At the surface transition, the high-temperature in-plane isotropic state becomes unstable with respect to a biaxial phase, the transition being continuous and therefore of-the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) type, It is expected to occur for intermediate surface couplings but not at very weak …
Calorimetric Study Of Nematic Prewetting, Xuewu Liu, David W. Allender, D. Finotello
Calorimetric Study Of Nematic Prewetting, Xuewu Liu, David W. Allender, D. Finotello
David W Allender
We report specific-heat measurements for a series of liquid crystals imbedded in a porous cylindrical geometry. Above the nematic-to-isotropic transition and dependent on nematic width (or chain length), the specific heat shows a small peak. In analogy to known ellipsometry results, the peak is believed to be the signature of a nematic prewetting transition.
Three-Dimensional Dye Distribution In Photo-Oriented Liquid-Crystal Alignment Layers, S. Bardon, D. Coleman, N. A. Clark, T. Kosa, H. Yuan, Peter Palffy-Muhoray
Three-Dimensional Dye Distribution In Photo-Oriented Liquid-Crystal Alignment Layers, S. Bardon, D. Coleman, N. A. Clark, T. Kosa, H. Yuan, Peter Palffy-Muhoray
Peter Palffy-Muhoray
The three-dimensional optical anisotropy of photo-buffed dye-doped polymer films and the resulting orientation imparted to a liquid crystal in contact are probed using total internal reflection. Although the linearly polarized writing light generates a uniaxial distribution of dye molecules, the polymer films are biaxial, a result of symmetry breaking by the film surface.
Low Pressure Synthesis Of Bulk, Polycrystalline Gallium Nitride, Alberto Argoitia, Cliff C. Hayman, John C. Angus, Long Wang, Jeffrey S. Dyck, Kathleen Kash
Low Pressure Synthesis Of Bulk, Polycrystalline Gallium Nitride, Alberto Argoitia, Cliff C. Hayman, John C. Angus, Long Wang, Jeffrey S. Dyck, Kathleen Kash
Jeffrey Dyck
Thick films of polycrystalline GaN were grown at low pressures by direct reaction of atomic nitrogen with liquid Ga without the presence of a substrate. The crystals were confirmed to be wurtzitic GaN by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Photoluminescence spectra showed near band edge peaks and broad yellow band emission at both 298 and 10 K. The results show that atomic nitrogen is an attractive alternative to high pressure N2 for the saturation of liquid gallium with nitrogen for the synthesis of bulk GaN.
X-Ray Studies Of Bond-Orientational Order In Liquid-Crystalline Orthogonal Hexatic-B Phase, E. Gorecka, Li Chen, Oleg Lavrentovich, W. Pyzuk
X-Ray Studies Of Bond-Orientational Order In Liquid-Crystalline Orthogonal Hexatic-B Phase, E. Gorecka, Li Chen, Oleg Lavrentovich, W. Pyzuk
Oleg Lavrentovich
X-ray scattering measurements have been carried out for free-standing, thick . monodomain films of the orthogonal hexatic-B phase. From Fourier analysis of X-scans, 6n-fold-symmetry order parameters were determined and proved to fulfill the scaling relation C6n = C6n+lambdan(n-1). The temperature behavior of C6 and lambda was found nonuniversal when comparing homologues, PIR5 and PIR7, differing in their range of the hexatic phase. The hexatic order parameter varies with the critical exponents 0.25, 0.20 (+/- 0.03), respectively. For comparison results for compound RFL6, of other homologue series, are presented.