Measurement of the Refractive Index and Estimate of the Order Parameter in Oriented Liquid Crystals

The refractive indices of a cholesteric liquid crystal, cholesteryl dodecyl carbonate (CDC), and a smectic liquid crystal, p-n-octoxybenzilidene-p-n-butylaniline (OOBBA), have been measured as a function of temperature in the transition temperature regions. The measurements were made on oriented liquid crystals with an Abbe refractometer. By combining the data on ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices, the relative order parameter, α_aS/α, is plotted as a function of temperature. The behavior of the order parameter near the cholesteric to isotropic transition of CDC is similar to a nematic liquid crystal, whereas, the order parameter in OOBBA shows only a slight temperature variation like many solids.     

Experimental Solution of the Local Field Problem in Uniaxial Liquid Crystals†

A method of experimental determination of the Lorentz-factor tensor in uniaxial liquid crystals is suggested. The specific features of the local field tensor of the light wave in a nematic liquid crystal with low optical anisotropy have been investigated experimentally. Anisotropy of the local field and Lorentz-factor tensors has been found to decrease with the decreasing optical and molecular-optical anisotropies. These results appear to contradict the existing polarization theories of liquid crystals. The local field problem in cholesteric liquid crystals has been considered. A new approach to the local field problem in uniaxial liquid crystals with arbitrary optical anisotropy is developed and the experimental results are explained.     

Optical Rotatory Dispersion Measurements of the Liquid Crystalline Blue Phases in Thick Layers

The results of optical rotatory dispersion (ORD) measurements in liquid crystalline blue phases (BP) are reported for pure compounds and mixtures. They have been performed on polycrystalline samples (thick layers). Two features distinguish their spectra from those obtained from liquid single crystals:

(1) The magnitude of the rotation is much smaller, and

(2) no sharp anomalous ORD region is present.

The spectra possess a weak, broad anomalous region. Their sign and wavelength dependence follows the sense and pitch of the cholesteric helix. ORD experiments with mixtures of the same cholesteric esters with a nematic substance yield results typical of well oriented samples. The spectra exhibit larger rotation angles and a significantly smaller anomalous region.     

Acousto-optics of liquid crystals: Yesterday,today, and tomorrow

The most important results of the recent theoretical and experimental studies in the field of acousto-optics of liquid crystals (LCs) in research lines initiated by the pioneering studies of Professor A.P. Kapustin at the Institute of Crystallography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and carried out at the Acoustic Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences are generalized and analyzed. These lines include the study of the nature of acoustically induced supramolecular structures in nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) and cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) and the development of physical bases of practical LC acousto-optics, related to the detection of acoustic signals.     

Phase Transition Studies in Mixed Polymesomorphic Liquid Crystals with Cholesteric and Smectic A Phase

Cholesteric mesomorphism was induced in a polymesomorphic liquid crystal with nematic and smectic A phases by mixing it with a low pitch cholesteric. A variety of mixtures for a wide range of concentrations were studied. It was observed that the addition of cholesteric liquid crystal disrupts the smectic phase of the parent polymesomorphic liquid crystal. The measured valuses of ultrasound velocity and specific volume and their related parameters were found to exhibit anomalies near each of the phase transitions. The mean interaction parameter $ \bar \alpha $ was estimated for different mixtures and was found to decrease with increasing concentration of cholesteric liquid crystal in the mixture. It was observed that smectic A-cholesteric transition becomes second-order at a particular concentration in agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Steroid motor: dynamics of cholesteric helix induction in the nematic droplet

A nematic liquid crystal can be converted into a cholesteric phase by a chiral dopant, and the cholesteric pitch can be changed by its photochemical transformations [1]. For the first time we investigate the dynamics of the cholesteric phase induction using seven steroids (vitamin D isomers and related compounds) as chiral dopants. Here we report the new effect of rotation of a rod-like steroid crystal (0.1-1 mm length) when it is placed at the surface of a nematic drop and its dissolution course was followed with a polarizing microscope. For all the compounds univocal correspondence was noticed between the crystal rotation direction, the helicity of the molecular steroid ring system [2] and the sign of the cholesteric macrohelix determined by the Cano-Grandjean method [3]. No rotation was observed in the isotropic phase.     

Phase Diagrams of Cholesteric and Nematic Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline Polymers

Linear mesogenic polyesters with flexible spacers (molecular weight ranging from 9,000 to 20,000) are studied by polarized microscopy. The nematic and cholesteric mesophases are identified by means of the contact method. Two enantiomers form perfect solid, cholesteric and liquid solutions. The sign of the twist of the cholesteric phases are determines.     

Photonics of liquid-crystal structures: A review

The original results of studies of the electro-optical and laser effects which have been performed at the Laboratory of Liquid Crystals of the Institute of Crystallography, Russian Academy of Sciences, over the last few years are reviewed. Cholesteric liquid crystals as vivid representatives of photonic structures and their behavior in an electric field are considered in detail. The formation of higher harmonics in the periodic distribution of the director field in a helical liquid crystal structure and, correspondingly, the new (anharmonic) mode of electro-optical effects are discussed. Another group of studies is devoted to bistable light switching by an electric field in chiral nematics. Polarization diffraction gratings controlled by an electric field are also considered. The results of studies devoted to microlasers on various photonic structures with cholesteric and nematic liquid crystals are considered in detail. Particular attention is given to the new regime: leaky-mode lasing. Designs of liquid crystal light amplifiers and their polarization, field, and spectral characteristics are considered in the last section.     

On the Transition between Cholesteric and Nematic Phases in Magnetic Field

Singularities at the critical lines bounding the cholesteric and nematic phases on the magnetic field versus temperature plane are investigated. Critical exponents, α and γ, of the specific heat and magnetic susceptibility are found both unities. By regarding the inverse of pitch of the cholesteric structure as an order parameter, it is found that the exponents β and δ are zero and infinity, respectively, and these exponents satisfy the scaling relations, α + 2β + γ = 2 and α + β (δ + 1) = 2. In relation to the discommensurate charge density wave in layer structure materials, it is noted that the transition from the nematic to cholesteric phase occurring with the change of magnetic field and/or temperature is interpreted as a condensation process of solitons.     

Topological Soft Matter for Optics and Photonics

Liquid crystal colloids are interesting for a variety of mechanisms—including self-assembly, optical-tweezers assisted assembly, topology, and material flow—that can be used to create various complex optical and photonic structures. Here, we present a brief overview of liquid crystal colloidal structures, as recently achieved by numerical modeling and experiments. Central to the structures are complex conformations of topological defects, as they can bind, stabilize, or distort the structure. Using topological and geometrical arguments, we show that the defects can be controllably rewired and imprinted, for example by using optical tweezers. We show that 3D colloidal crystals can be assembled from elastic dipoles of spherical beads in nematic liquid crystals or via inherently inhomogeneous order profiles in bulk and confined cholesteric blue phases. Colloidal crystals are generalized to close-packed colloidal lattices, which we show can serve as natural templates for defect networks. Finally, photonic bands are calculated for selected structures and possible defects in the structure are discussed.     

New Cholesteric and Nematic Lyotropic Mesophases from Di-Sodium N-Lauroyl-Aspartate

Lyotropic liquid crystals are prepared from racemic and optically active di-sodium N-lauroyl aspartate (SNLA). The optically active levo enantiomer is a suitable amphiphile for obtaining cholesteric lyotropic mesophases. In the present work, different types of mesophases, including cholesteric and nematic, were prepared and their type I or II magnetic behavior characterized by deuterium and ²³Na NMR. The polarizing microscope textures were investigated, particularly with regards to magnetic field effects upon the samples. The usual chevron pattern was obtained for particular sample orientations and several characteristic effects were observed for the type I cholesteric lyomesophase in the first few minutes following removal of the sample from the magnetic field. Although the head group of di-sodium N-lauroyl aspartate possesses two negative charges, compositions are not too different from those reported for other amphiphile lyotropic systems.     

Functionalisation of cholesteric liquid crystals by direct laser writing

Cholesteric liquid crystals selectively reflect circularly polarised light with the same handedness as the helix. Because of their sensitivity to external stimuli, such as heat and electrical fields, various applications utilising their tunability have been proposed. Tuning is usually performed in the bulk, meaning that cholesteric liquid crystals usually possess a single pitch throughout the medium. However, when the helical structure is locally modulated, different optical properties arise, such as tunable photonic defect modes and multiple reflection bands. Here we show a technique to locally modulate the helical structure of cholesteric liquid crystals on a submicron scale, based on two-photon excitation direct laser lithography. Two examples of cholesteric liquid crystal structures with modulated helical structures will be presented.     

Lasing Spectra of Dye Doped Cholesteric Liquid Crystals Under Reversible Phototuning of the Frequency

We investigate the lasing frequency phototuning in a distributed feedback (DFB) laser based on cholesteric liquid crystals (CLC). To improve the CLC planar texture quality, we use new materials such as nematic ZhK-654 and an analog of cholesteryl oleate as a twisting additive. The selective excitation of the cis-form molecules of the azoxy-nematic is carried out with the use of a combination of an interference filter with maximum transmission at 436 nm and a cut-off filter. Using the orienting substrates with SnO₂ allows us to reduce the threshold pump power by more than an order of magnitude. The proposed combination of filters for the selective excitation enables us to align the ranges of lasing wavelengths in both directions.     

Nanostructures on the Basis of Porous Alumina with Intercalated with Cholesteric Liquid Crystal

The introduction of liquid crystal materials into the porous material host will help us to get optically active nanocomposites. Nanocomposite based on aluminum oxide host with cholesteric liquid crystal is characterized by a shift of bandwidth wavelength minimum. In case of intercalation of cholesteric liquid crystals into the pores of aluminum oxide host the shift of transmittance minimum into the short wave region are observed. We analyzed the ways, which indicate the deformation of the pitch of the cholesteric helix and showed the role of capillary forces in the deformation of the pitch of cholesteric liquid crystal.     

The Effect of Rhodamine 6G on Phase Transitions in Cholesteryl Ester Mixtures

Compensated cholesteric mixtures were the subject of a whole range of studies.^1-6 Due to their characteristic properties (the existence of a temperature at which compensation occurs and the dependence of the critical field on temperature), the orientation of guest molecules by compensated cholesteric hosts⁷ shows some particular features in comparison to the orienting mechanisms acting within nematic liquid crystals^8-15 or within chiral nematic mixture.^16,17 When the colour of sample varies due to the influence of the electric field and temperature the guest dye contributes to it as well the compensated cholesteric host.

In this paper we report the modification of compensated cholesteric mixture properties due to the introduction of Rhodamine 6G as guest.     

Local Refractive Index Measurement on a Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Using the Surface Plasmon Technique

Abstract

The surface plasmon technique is used to measure the local refractive indices in the quasi-nematic layers of a cholesteric liquid crystal with an accuracy of about 10^?4. The local linear birefringence reflecting the orientational order of molecules in the quasi-nematic layers shows a temperature dependence characteristic of a nematic and in good agreement with the theory of nematic ordering.     

Liquid crystal material with gold nanoparticles as optical sensors active medium for the amino acids detection

Abstract

In the article, the possibility of using the cholesteric liquid crystal mixture doped by the gold nanoparticles as an active medium of optical amino acid sensors is shown. The BLO-62 and the 5CB were used as a cholesteric liquid crystal and a nematic liquid crystal correspondingly. This mixture was doped by the gold nanoparticles. The method of gold nanoparticles synthesis is considered and their parameters are determined. Studies on the spectral characteristics of the investigated materials have shown that the addition of gold nanoparticles to the system leads to a significant decreasing in the spectral characteristic steepness and give the possibility of expanding the measurement range of amino acid concentration.     

Colloidal structures in confined nematic liquid crystals

Colloidal structures in confined nematics offer novel routes for designing complex optical materials with micrometre and submicrometre functionality. In this paper, we review some of our recently assembled colloidal structures that form in confined nematic cells. We present effective elastic binding via nematic distortion as a mechanism for the assembly of two-dimensional colloidal crystals of elastic dipoles and elastic quadrupoles. We introduce entangled colloids as novel types of structures, where particles are topologically bound by delocalised defect loops, producing robust and possibly chiral structures. The concept of hierarchical assembly is demonstrated in colloids with particles of various scales. In cholesteric blue phases, the assembly of three-dimensional colloidal crystals is shown based on naturally occurring three-dimensional arrays of trapping sites produced by blue phases.