Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ordering Of Glass Rods In Nematic And Cholesteric Liquid Crystals, A. T. Juhl, Deng-Ke Yang, V. P. Tondiglia, L. V. Natarajan, Timothy J. White, Timothy J. Bunning

Deng-Ke Yang

The orientational assembly of glass rods (3 x similar to 15 mu m) in nematic, twisted nematic, and cholesteric liquid crystal cells was observed and quantified with optical microscopy. At this size, the rods were affected strongly by gravity and sedimented to the bottom of the cells. Temporal visualization of the sedimentation process (induced by flipping the cell over) shed insight into the effect the liquid crystal order had on the glass rod orientation. For nematic and twisted nematic geometries, the glass rods were aligned parallel to the local director orientation. Control experiments indicate that the rod alignment is not …