Phase behaviour of lyotropic liquid crystals in external fields and confinement

This mini-review discusses the influence of external fields on the phase behaviour of lyotropic colloidal liquid crystals. The liquid crystal phases reviewed, formed in suspensions of highly anisotropic particles ranging from rod- to board- to plate-like particles, include nematic, smectic and columnar phases. The external fields considered are the earth gravitational field and electric and magnetic fields. For electric and magnetic fields single particle alignment, collective reorientation behaviour of ordered phases and field-induced liquid crystal phase transitions are discussed. Additionally, liquid crystal phase behaviour in various confining geometries, e.g. slit-pore, circular and spherical confinement will be reviewed.     

Fluctuations of impurity composition and their role in dislocation cross slip in crystals

The influence of impurities on the kinetics of split-dislocation cross slip caused by a change in the stacking-fault energy is studied theoretically. It is shown that the fluctuations in the impurity composition of a crystal make a considerable contribution to the kinetics of dislocation cross slip. The activation-energy spectrum and the average frequency of the processes of dislocation cross slip are calculated for a model of random impurity distribution in a crystal. The calculation shows that the fluctuations in impurity concentration, reducing the stacking-fault energy, play an important role in the low-temperature region.     

Study of simultaneous oscillation on several transitions in cw CO laser

Received: 13 September 1995/Revised version: 5 August 1996     

Spectral structure of polarization radiation from relativistic electrons in aluminum

Collective effects in polarization bremsstrahlung generated by relativistic electrons in a polycrystalline aluminum foil are studied experimentally on the basis of the 2.4-MeV electron accelerator installed at the Institute of Nuclear Physics (Moscow State University, Moscow). A peak structure found in this polarization bremsstrahlung for the first time is in agreement with theoretical predictions. __________ Translated from Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 63, No. 11, 2000, pp. 2097–2100. __________ Translated from Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 63, No. 11, 2000, pp. 2097–2100.