Influence of cell and LC parameters on the dynamics of STN liquid crystal displays

The dynamics of super-twisted nematic (STN) liquid crystal displays have rarely been studied. In this article, the dynamic response of STN is analysed in detail. The evolution of director configuration with time was obtained by solving Ericksen–Leslie hydrodynamic equations. The time varying midlayer tilt angle is presented as a measure of dynamic response. The influence on STN dynamics of cell parameters including pretilt angle, twist angle, cell thickness, and of material parameters including d/p, K ₂₂, K ₃₃, were studied.     

Distributing points uniformly on the unit sphere under a mirror reflection symmetry constraint

Uniformly distributed point sets on the unit sphere with and without symmetry constraints have been found useful in many scientific and engineering applications. Here, a novel variant of the Thomson problem is proposed and formulated as an unconstrained optimization problem. While the goal of the Thomson problem is to find the minimum energy configuration of N electrons constrained on the surface of the unit sphere, this novel variant imposes a new symmetry constraint – mirror reflection symmetry with the x–y plane as the plane of symmetry. Qualitative features of the two-dimensional projection of the optimal configurations are briefly mentioned and compared to the ground-state configurations of the two dimensional system of charged particles laterally confined by a parabolic potential well.     

Synthesis and optical nondestructive evaluation of GaN nanorods on silicon surfaces with gold catalyst

Nanometric gallium-nitride rods were grown on a silicon (1 1 1) substrate through a chemical vapor deposition process with gold particles as the catalyst. Randomly distributed gallium-nitride rods of 20–200 nm in diameter and of various densities and lengths were formed under different deposition conditions. Characterization analyses, such as scanning electron microscopy and optical reflection spectroscopy, have been carried out on samples containing gallium-nitride rods different in size, shape, length and density. While the scanning electron microscopy shows directly the images of the sample surfaces, the optical spectroscopy provides a nondestructive evaluation of the sample surfaces, especially helpful for checking the uniformity of the samples.     

Recent advances of ultrasonic testing of cement based materials at early ages

To summarize some of the most important findings in the field of ultrasonic (US) testing of early age hydration and formation of structure of different cement based materials (CBMs), a review of literature with focus on US P-wave transmission and S-wave reflection methods is presented in this paper. The review shows a great ability of both US techniques to observe setting phenomena and to determine different milestones during the early age formation of CBM’s microstructure. Clear physical basis, high accuracy, and non-destructive nature of the method indicate that US methods could become standardized in the near future.     

Tuning of Photonic band gap via combined effect of electric and optical fields in a blue phase liquid crystal composite

ABSTRACT

Blue phase liquid crystals are soft 3D photonic crystals in which the liquid crystal molecules self-assemble to form a cubic structure with lattice spacing of a few hundred nanometers resulting in selective reflection of colours in the visible spectrum. The corresponding wavelength or the ‘photonic band gap’ can be tuned using various external stimuli such as thermal, electric, magnetic and optical fields. Here, we report efficient tuning of photonic band gap by utilising the combination of electric and optical fields in a blue phase liquid crystalline system. The studies indicate that the chirality of the medium has a direct bearing on the direction of the wavelength shift and the extent of the photonic band gap tunability. More importantly, the synergistic effect of the two fields helps in reversible tuning of the band gap.     

Reflection of plane waves in generalized thermoelasticity of type III with nonlocal effect

The generalized thermoelasticity theory based upon the Green and Naghdi model III of thermoelasticity as well as the Eringen's nonlocal elasticity model is used to study the propagation of harmonic plane waves in a nonlocal thermoelastic medium. We found two sets of coupled longitudinal waves, which are dispersive in nature and experience attenuation. In addition to the coupled waves, there also exists one independent vertically shear-type wave, which is dispersive but experiences no attenuation. All these waves are found to be influenced by the elastic nonlocality parameter. Furthermore, the shear-type wave is found to face a critical frequency, while the coupled longitudinal waves may face critical frequencies conditionally. The problem of reflection of the thermoelastic waves at the stress-free insulated and isothermal boundary of a homogeneous, isotropic nonlocal thermoelastic half-space has also been investigated. The formulae for various reflection coefficients and their respective energy ratios are determined in various cases. For a particular material, the effects of the angular frequency and the elastic nonlocal parameter have been shown on phase speeds and the attenuation coefficients of the propagating waves. The effect of the elastic nonlocality on the reflection coefficients and the energy ratios has been observed and depicted graphically. Finally, analysis of the various results has been interpreted.     

A tribute to professor Robert West,on the occasion of his 90th birthday

Abstract

This is for Bob, and for his vast number of friends and colleagues who wish to celebrate his 90^th birthday. On this occasion we express our admiration, friendship, and appreciation for the wonderful adventures that he has shared with so many of us. While we are limited to providing a personal account of our experience of Bob, we believe that what we describe will in some way resonant with those who know him. Not surprisingly, the life of a great person is dedicated to all possible kinds of movement (mentally and physically) always curious and ready to find out what future brings rather than looking back upon the past. Needless to say – Bob moves quickly. Very quickly. So we will not pretend that we, or anyone else, could capture the essence of the man. As much as he immerses himself in the moment, it seems a losing proposition to try to identify something singular and unchanging about him. As Heraclitus says “we can never step into the same river twice,” so has been our experience, and delight, with Bob. It is our hope that many other accounts of Bob will be told and retold during the events celebrating his 90^th birthday.     

Numerical analysis of nematic liquid crystal alignment on asymmetric surface grating structures

The influence of an asymmetric periodic grooved cell surface on the 2D static director configuration of a nematic liquid crystal has been investigated. The minimum in the Frank-Oseen free energy was solved numerically with the Rapini-Papoular form of the surface anchoring energy at the nematic-grating interface. Results are presented for the variation of pretilt angle in the tilted bulk director field as a function of the surface groove depth, pitch and asymmetry and the bulk parameters. The simulations demonstrate the existence of two energetically degenerate high and low pretilted bulk alignment configurations. The pretilt values in these two regimes and also for the low tilt regime with finite surface anchoring are consistent with experimental results. An effective increase in the resolution of the model is obtained by using an irregular grid to describe the surface profile.     

2-巯基苯并噻唑对铜缓蚀行为的表面增强红外光谱研究

2-巯基苯并噻唑(MBT)是Cu的高效缓蚀剂,但是缓蚀机理存在较大争议.本文通过电化学极化曲线从宏观角度对缓蚀效率进行评估,并利用原位衰减全反射-表面增强红外光谱技术结合理论计算研究了电位控制下的微观吸附构型.结果表明:在较高电位(大于0 V,相对饱和甘汞电极(SCE))下,MBT和金属Cu之间发生电子转移,MBT以硫醇式的环外S和N与金属Cu(I)离子配位在表面形成聚合物膜;在较低电位(小于0 V,vs SCE)下,MBT通过环外S原子以硫醇离子形式在金属Cu表面直立吸附.表面膜阻止了腐蚀介质的侵蚀,起到了较好的缓蚀效果.