Plasmon electro-optic effect in a subwavelength metallic nanograting with a nematic liquid crystal

The electro-optic effect in hybrid structures based on subwavelength metallic nanogratings in contact with a layer of a nematic liquid crystal has been experimentally studied. Metallic gratings are fabricated in the form of interdigitated electrodes, which makes it possible to use them not only as optical elements but also for the production of an electric field in a thin surface region of the layer of the liquid crystal. It has been shown that, owing to the electric-field-induced reorientation of molecules of the liquid crystal near the surface of the grating, it is possible to significantly control the spectral features of the transmission of light, which are caused by the excitation of surface plasmons. The electro-optic effect is superfast for liquid crystal devices because a change in the optical properties of the system requires the reorientation of molecules only in a very thin surface layer of the liquid crystal.     

Phase equilibria,metastable states,and critical points in a simple one-component system

Stability of metastable phase states against infinitesimal perturbations in a simple one-component system is considered. The method of molecular dynamics simulation was used to determine the boundaries of essential instability of supersaturated vapor, a superheated liquid, and a superheated crystal. The absence of a spinodal from a supercooled liquid and the dependence of the boundary of essential instability of a superheated crystal on the character of deformation were established. It is shown that each of the three lines of phase equilibria in a one-component system has an endpoint of termination of phase coexistence. As distinct from the liquid–gas critical point, which is the point of phase identity and is located in the region of stable states, the endpoints of melting and sublimation lines are located in the region ofmetastable states. At these points, a critical (spinodal) state is achieved only for one of the coexisting phases.     

Deformation of a pretilted nematic liquid crystal layer in an electric field

The deformation of the optical axis of a nematic liquid crystal layer under the influence of an electric field is caused by the dielectric torque. This momentum counteracts with an elastic torque generated by interfacial forces between the surface of the electrode and the liquid crystal. By means of a variational analysis, the deformation profiles within the liquid crystal layer are calculated, assuming large interfacial energies and various angles of pretilt of the liquid crystal directors with respect to the electrodes. Both the extreme case of a homeotropic (vertical) alignment on one electrode and a homogeneous (parallel) alignment on the opposite electrode, as well as the general case of arbitrary and different alignments on both electrodes, lead to heavily pretilted liquid crystal layers, resulting in definite deformation profiles without disclinations. Liquid crystal cells prepared in this way neither show threshold voltages nor delay times when electrical fields are applied. Measured and calculated characteristics of such liquid crystal cells are presented, they show good agreement.     

Design a backlight system to a LCD of vertical-field-switching blue phase

We propose a backlight system for a vertical-field-switching blue phase liquid crystal display. Because the blue phase liquid crystal display needs an oblique incident light source of a backlight system, we designed the backlight system that consisted of a light guide plate and a specially designed prism film. We simulated the backlight system by optical software (TraceProTM) and the performance of the blue phase liquid crystal display by liquid crystal software (TechWiz). The result showed that the contrast ratio of the blue phase liquid crystal display can be over 2000 and the uniformity was 86%. The designed applicable backlight system will be illustrated in the vertical field switching blue phase liquid crystal display.     

Orientational Ordering of a Liquid-Crystal Suspension of Carbon Nanotubes in a Magnetic Field

A statistical theory is proposed to describe a suspension of carbon nanotubes in a nematic liquid crystal. The mean-field approach is used, and dispersion attraction, the excluded volume effects, the diamagnetism of liquid crystal molecules, and the strong diamagnetism of nanotubes are taken into account. The influence of the volume fraction of impurity, temperature, and magnetic field on the orientational ordering of a liquid crystal matrix and carbon nanotubes is studied. The concentration and temperature phase transitions in the suspension are investigated for various magnetic fields. The concentration and field shifts of the point of the phase transition between nematic and isotropic or paranematic phases are studied.     

Programmable agile beam steering based on a liquid crystal prism

To meet the application need for agile precision beam steering, a novel liquid crystal prism device with a simple structure, convenient control, low cost and applicable performance is presented, and analysed theoretically and experimentally. The relationships between the optical path and the thickness of the liquid crystal cell under different voltages are investigated quantitatively by using a theoretical model. Analysis results show that the optical path profile of the liquid crystal prism has a quasi-linear slope and the standard deviation of the linear slope is less than 16 nm. The slope ratio can be changed by a voltage, which achieves the programmable beam steering and control. Practical liquid crystal prism devices are fabricated. Their deflection angles and wavefront profiles with different voltages are experimentally tested. The results are in good agreement with the simulated results. The results imply that the agile beam steering in a scope of 100 μrad with a micro-rad resolution is substantiated in the device. The two-dimensional beam steering is also achieved by cascading two liquid crystal prism devices.     

挠曲电效应对向列相液晶盒电光效应的影响

研究挠曲电效应对向列相液晶盒电光效应的影响.通过变分理论得到液晶指向矢满足的微分方程和边界条件,利用差分迭代的方法计算强锚定和弱锚定液晶盒中液晶指向矢的分布情况.借助琼斯矩阵的方法,计算两种液晶盒电光特性曲线.此外,在计算中同时考虑了挠曲电表面和体积效应.     

Scattering and amplification of light in a layer of a nematic liquid crystal

The role of light scattering in liquid crystal lasers can be of two kinds. It can induce undesirable losses increasing the lasing threshold or it can promote the appearance of feedback necessary for lasing. The light amplification spectra of the liquid crystal in the isotropic and light-scattering nematic phases have been measured. For comparison, at a close pump power, the amplification spectra have been measured on a TiO₂ nanoparticle suspension in an isotropic solvent, where the mean free path of photons is the same as that in the liquid crystal. The amplifications in two systems are significantly different, because the shapes of their scattering patterns are strongly different.     

Pyroelectric investigation of the surface polarization in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal

Measurements of the temperature dependence of the pyroelectric coefficients in cells with homeotropic and planar boundary conditions were performed in order to study the surface polarization and determine its nature in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. Analysis of these data established that the ordering polarization arising as a result of the nonuniformity of the order parameter in the near-boundary region of the liquid crystal and the polar monolayer due to the bifilar properties of the molecules of the liquid crystal at the boundary with the solid wall of the cell are responsible for the surface polarization in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. The values of the pyroelectric coefficients of monolayers and the coefficients of the ordering polarization for planar and homeotropic orientations are estimated.     

Amplification of the emission of a liquid-crystal microlaser by means of a uniform liquid-crystal layer

The amplification of the emission of a microlaser based on a cholesteric liquid crystal by means of a uniformly oriented layer of a laser-dye-doped nematic liquid crystal is demonstrated. The nematic liquid crystal is characterized by the anisotropy of optical properties, including the amplification coefficient, which opens the possibility of creating amplifiers controlled by a low electric field.     

Electric convection in a nematic liquid crystal in a varying electric field

The emergence of electric convection in a nematic liquid crystal under the action of a varying electric field is analyzed in the 1D approximation. A new mode of external field variation with subharmonic oscillations is proposed. The behavior of several classes of synchronous perturbations and subharmonic oscillations is analyzed; the evolution of the fields of the director and of the volume charge is studied. Parametric instability regions are specified and the critical frequencies of transitions between response modes are determined. Stability maps for a nematic liquid crystal are plotted on the frequency-amplitude plane.     

Pre-transitional effects in a nematic and a polymesomorphic liquid crystal

Measurements of ultrasonic velocity V, specific volume v and adiabatic compressibility K_ad are carried out in a monotropic nematic liquid crystal, p-anisal-p-phenetidine (pApP), and a polymesomorphic liquid crystal, p-n-decyloxybenzoyl-p-cresol (DBC) with nematic and smectic A phases. Temperature variation of the order parameter is estimated. The pre-transitional effects observed in v and K_ad are discussed on the basis of de Gennes' theory generalized by Bendler, and the critical exponents are estimated.     

Creation of tunable absolute bandgaps in a two-dimensional anisotropic photonic crystal modulated by a nematic liquid crystal

Photonic crystals (PCs) have many potential applications because of their ability to control light-wave propagation. We have investigated the tunable absolute bandgap in a two-dimensional anisotropic photonic crystal structures modulated by a nematic liquid crystal. The PC structure composed of an anisotropic-dielectric cylinder in the liquid crystal medium is studied by solving Maxwell's equations using the plane wave expansion method. The photonic band structures are found to exhibit absolute bandgaps for the square and triangular lattices. Numerical simulations show that the absolute bandgaps can be continuously tuned in the square and triangular lattices consisting of anisotropic-dielectric cylinders by infiltrating nematic liquid crystals. Such a mechanism of bandgap adjustment should open up a new application for designing components in photonic integrated circuits.     

Selective reflection of light from a layer of cholesteric liquid crystal with induced inhomogeneity of helix pitch

A possibility to induce a planar defect in a plane-layer structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal via an external electric field is shown experimentally. The results of studies of behavior of the selective reflection (transmission) coefficient of light for a layer of the cholesteric liquid crystal, where planar defects are induced, are presented     

An interferometric study of a model of a biomembrane based on liquid crystal

A variation in the thickness of a biomembrane based on liquid crystal is experimentally studied in the presence of external electric field using a low-Q-factor Fabry-Perot interferometer. Variation in the thickness of the membrane is determined with the aid of the interference pattern of the reflected beam with an accuracy of up to 0.1 Å. The nonlinear elasticity of the liquid crystal is determined from the experimental data. Chaotic fluctuations of the membrane are observed at a certain threshold voltage.     

Enhanced optical nonlinearity near the photonic bandgap edges of a cholesteric liquid crystal

The third-order Kerr nonlinear optical effect of a one-dimensional photonic bandgap structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal is investigated. In a femtosecond nonlinear transmission measurement, nonlinear optical changes in the bandgap edges are observed. From analysis of the dispersion relation, Kerr nonlinear coefficients of nematics, forming the cholesteric liquid crystal, are found to be enhanced by 1-2 orders of magnitude through the photonic bandgap structure.     

Metastable phase equilibria in a Lennard-Jones system

A method of molecular dynamics is used to calculate the pressure, internal energy, and isochoric heat capacity in a system of 2048 Lennard-Jones particles in the range of reduced temperatures from 0.1 to 2.0 and the range of densities from 0.001 to 1.15. Local equations of state for the gas, liquid, and crystalline phases are derived. The spinodals of a superheated (extended) liquid, supersaturated vapor, and superheated (extended) crystal are determined. It is shown that the spinodal of a supercooled liquid is nonexistent. An algorithm to calculate the lines of phase equilibria is constructed. The lines of liquid-gas, liquid-crystal, crystal-gas phase equilibria, and their metastable extensions are determined. It is shown that the metastable extensions of the melting and sublimation lines terminate at the spinodals of the liquid and crystal, respectively. The properties of final critical points in the lines of melting and sublimation are considered.     

Control of the transmission spectrum of a photonic crystal with lattice defects

The transmission spectrum of a one-dimensional photonic crystal with structural defects is investigated. An anisotropic layer of a nematic liquid crystal is considered as a defect. The possibility of effective external control of the transmission spectrum of the photonic crystal by changing either the orientational state of the defect liquid crystal layer (for example, using an electric field) or the angle of incidence of light is shown. It is established that the spectral properties of the photonic crystal change radically with a change in the optical characteristics of the defect layer in the vicinity of the temperature phase transition of the nematic liquid crystal to the isotropic state.     

Phase change of a plane wave propagating through polymer dispersed liquid crystal film with nanosized droplets

The coherent field propagation in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is described using a method based on the Foldy-Twersky integral equation for the vector case. Expressions for a polarization-independent phase shift and the coherent transmission coefficient of such a layer containing nanodimensional nematic liquid crystal droplets are obtained. Theoretical results for the phase shift are compared to the available experimental data.     

Tunable superprism and polarization splitting in a liquid crystal infiltrated two-dimensional photonic crystal made of silicon oxynitride

Tunable superprism and polarization splitting effects, based on liquid-crystal infiltrated two-dimensional photonic crystal with SiON as a background material, are demonstrated. Owing to the strong birefringence of the liquid crystal, the dispersion curves of the two polarizations are distinctly different, resulting in large splitting between the two polarizations. Extremely large splitting, as large as 80 degrees, can be obtained. Moreover, the splitting can be tuned to a substantial degree when the optic axis of the liquid crystal is reoriented. Fully controllable, incident-angle-dependent and wavelength-dependent superprism effects are also demonstrated. This large swing in the refraction can be completely switched off by reorientation of the optic axis of the liquid crystal, thus to resemble bulk media refraction.