Light propagation in highly birefringent photonic liquid crystal fibers

Photonic liquid crystal fibers have already been demonstrated as a promising perspective for creation of new classes of dynamically tunable optical fiber devices. By combining different geometries of photonic crystal fibers with a variety of different liquid crystals it is possible to obtain a new generation of fibers with dynamically tunable properties, e.g., transmission spectra, attenuation or dispersion. In this paper, tunable birefringence in a commercially available highly birefringent Blazephotonics PM-1550-01 photonic crystal fiber selectively filled with a low birefringence liquid crystal has been experimentally demonstrated. Theses experimental results have been compared with simulations based on the multipole method.     

New antiferroelectric liquid crystal for use in LCD

In this work, the physical properties of newly synthesized liquid crystalline compound exhibiting two liquid crystalline phases (ferroelectric and antiferroelectric) were studied. Based on the results of differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing microscopy, and photoelastic modulator methods, the temperature dependences of spontaneous polarization, tilt angle, switching time, and birefringence in the ferroelectric, as well as antiferroelectric phases were determined. Furthermore, the influence of the external electric field on the liquid crystalline textures was studied and the phase sequences at heating and cooling were revealed. The temperature dependence of spontaneous polarization was analysed by means of Landau mean-field theory, and the critical parameter β obtained for ferroelectric liquid crystalline and isotropic liquid transition was 0.21 which is close to 0.25, the value characteristic for tri-critical point.     

Photonic liquid crystal fibers — a new challenge for fiber optics and liquid crystals photonics

The paper reviews and discusses the latest developments in the field of the photonic liquid crystal fibers that have occurred for the last three years in view of new challenges for both fiber optics and liquid crystal photonics. In particular, we present the latest experimental results on electrically induced birefringence in photonic liquid crystal fibers and discuss possibilities and directions of future developments.     

Electro-optical properties of high birefringence liquid crystal compounds with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group

Liquid crystal(LC) compound with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group is an attractive high birefringence LC material,and can be used in optical devices. In this paper, the electro-optical properties of a series of this type of LC compounds were investigated. The melting points and enthalpy values of these LC compounds were higher than those of corresponding compounds with the phenyl group. These compounds exhibited high birefringence with a maximum value of 0.66. Fluorine substitution in the molecular almost does not affect the birefringence value. When these LC compounds with the naphthyl group were dissolved in a commercial LC mixture, the electro-optical properties depending on temperature were investigated. In the low-temperature region, LC mixtures with the naphthyl-group LC compounds exhibited higher viscosity than pure commercial LCs. In the high-temperature region, viscosity values very closely approached each other. When response performance was investigated, figure-of-merit(Fo M) values were measured. The Fo M values of LC mixtures containing LC compounds with naphthyl group were lower than those of reference benzene LCs in the low-temperature region. However, in the high-temperature region, the results were reversed. These isothiocyanate LC compounds with naphthyl group can be applied in special fast-response LC device, particularly the ones used under high-temperature conditions.     

Temperature tuning of polarization mode dispersion in single-core and two-core photonic liquid crystal fibers

In this paper we present numerical and experimental results of propagation and polarization properties of the photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) in which only selected micro holes were filled with nematic liquid crystal (LC) guest materials. As a host photonic crystal fiber (PCF) structure, we used a commercially available highly birefringent PCF (Blazephotonics, UK). A tunable laser operated at infrared has powered the PLCFs under investigation infiltrated by the 1550 nematic LC synthesized at the Military University of Technology. Temperature induced changes of the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) as well switching between fundamental and higher order modes and also single-core and two-core propagation were successfully demonstrated.     

Magnetic and electric birefringence in the isotropic phase of nematic liquid crystals

A theory is developed of the anomalous magnetic and electric birefringence in the isotropic phase of nematic liquid crystals taking into account orientational correlations between neighbouring molecules. Use is made of a modification of Bethe’s method due to Krieger and James, and the properties of the system are derived in terms of a single parameter, viz., the two-particle interaction constant. The expressions for the magnetic and electric birefringence are similar in form to those given by the phenomenological model of de Gennes. Theoretical curves forp-azoxyanisole reproduce the trends in the observed data. A calculation of the nematic-isotropic transition point confirms that this treatment is an improvement over the mean field approximation in describing pre-transition phenomena in the isotropic phase.     

液晶棱镜双折射实验

介绍了液晶棱镜盒的制作及利用其测试液晶双折射的实验方法.这种棱镜盒的2片梯形透明导电玻璃的重合部分为等边三角形.不加电场时,液晶盒不是光学各向异性的单轴晶体,没有双折射现象,只能观察到散射现象;在电极上施加电压使液晶垂面排列,液晶盒成双折射单晶,利用三棱镜最小偏向角原理测试液晶双折射率.     

FDTD analysis of photonic crystal defect layers filled with liquid crystals

Dielectric and metallic photonic crystals comprising nematic liquid crystal materials as defect layers or elements are investigated by the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. Appropriate formulations of the FDTD algorithm, for the simulation of anisotropic and dispersive media as well as periodic geometries, are utilised and combined with the proper absorbing and periodic boundary conditions. The spectral properties of the presented structures are tuned by means of applying static electric fields across the defect layers, thus affecting the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal material. Numerical results show that sufficient tuning ranges are achieved, requiring low operating voltages. Moreover, high and sharp resonance peaks are observed.     

Electro-optic properties of nematic and ferroelectric liquid crystalline nanocolloids doped with partially reduced graphene oxide

Flakes of partially reduced graphene oxide (PRGO) were doped in nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) and ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs), respectively. The dielectric and electro-optical properties of NLCs doped with those flakes have been investigated. Threshold voltage and switching times are reduced by 30%–50%. This is primarily due to the decrease of the elastic properties of the nanocolloids compared to the non-doped nematics. The influence of the PRGO flakes on the spontaneous polarization, tilt angle and switching time of FLCs was investigated too. Such flakes reduce the response time by 40%–60%, increases spontaneous polarization by 20%–25% and increase the tilt angle by 15%–20%.     

Nonvolatile unipolar resistive switching in ultrathin films of graphene and carbon nanotubes

We report unipolar resistive switching in ultrathin films of chemically produced graphene (reduced graphene oxide) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The two-terminal devices with yield >99% are made at room temperature by forming continuous films of graphene of thickness ∼20 nm on indium tin oxide coated glass electrode, followed by metal (Au or Al) deposition on the film. These memory devices are nonvolatile, rewritable with ON/OFF ratios up to ∼ 10⁵ and switching times up to 10 μs. The devices made of MWNT films are rewritable with ON/OFF ratios up to ∼400. The resistive switching mechanism is proposed to be nanogap formation and filamentary conduction paths.     

Liquid‐Crystal‐Mediated Self‐Assembly of Porous α‐Fe2O3 Nanorods on PEDOT:PSS‐Functionalized Graphene as a Flexible Ternary Architecture for Capacitive Energy Storage

A novel aqueous‐based self‐assembly approach to a composite of iron oxide nanorods on conductive‐polymer (CP)‐functionalized, ultralarge graphene oxide (GO) liquid crystals (LCs) is demonstrated here for the fabrication of a flexible hybrid material for charge capacitive application. Uniform decoration of α‐Fe₂O₃ nanorods on a poly(3,4‐ethylene‐dioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)‐functionalized, ultralarge GO scaffold results in a 3D interconnected layer‐by‐layer (LBL) architecture. This advanced interpenetrating network of ternary components is lightweight, foldable, and possesses highly conductive pathways for facile ion transportation and charge storage, making it promising for high‐performance energy‐storage applications. Having such structural merits and good synergistic effects, the flexible architecture exhibits a high specific discharge capacitance of 875 F g^?1 and excellent volumetric specific capacitance of 868 F cm^?3 at 5 mV s^?1, as well as a promising energy density of 118 W h kg^?1 (at 0.5 A g^?1) and promising cyclability, with capacity retention of 100% after 5000 charge–discharge (CD) cycles. This synthesis method provides a simple, yet efficient approach for the solution‐processed LBL insertion of the hematite nanorods (HNR) into CP‐functionalized novel composite structure. It provides great promise for the fabrication of a variety of metal‐oxide (MO)‐nanomaterial‐based binder and current collector‐free flexible composite electrodes for high‐performance energy‐storage applications.     

应变液晶散射偏光片的试制

介绍了聚合物分散液晶(PDLC)和应变液晶(SLC)以及散射偏光片的概念,实验制备了应变液晶散射偏光片样品,样品由两张胶片夹层聚合物分散液晶膜在紫外光固化过程中施加剪切应力所形成。给出了样品偏光显微镜照片和可见光分光光度计偏光特性光谱分析。实验结果表明,应变液晶散射偏光片样品外观半透明,在正交偏光场中转动样品有颜色变化,通过样品观察液晶显示器屏幕,在不同角度下有透射和散射作用,在偏光显微镜中观察样品有衬垫料被拉动的痕迹,光谱分析显示样品在绿光550nm波长处最大透光率T∥≈50%,最小透光率T⊥≈5%,偏振度P≈82%。实验结果对于研制实用的拉伸液晶散射偏光片具有参考意义。     

Anisotropic diffusion in a nematic liquid crystal- An electric field PFG NMR approach

The access to self-diffusion coefficients in anisotropic systems such as thermotropic liquid crystals by means of PFG NMR is complicated by strong dipolar interactions. Additionally, problems arise due to the immediate orientation of low-molar-mass nematic liquid crystals in an external field. The director orientation can be changed by the application of an additional electric field. This can be exploited in order to reduce the dipolar interaction to such an extent that the NMR linewidths change from a solid-state to a liquid-like situation enabling PFG NMR experiments.     

剪切聚合物分散液晶散射偏光特性

介绍了拉伸聚合物分散液晶和散射偏光片概念,实验制备了剪切聚合物分散液晶样品,给出了对聚合物分散液晶样品施加剪切应力的偏光特性光谱分析.实验结果表明,吸收偏光片前置和后置样品的散射偏光效果相同,样品在绿光550nm波长处最大透光率T//～60%,最小透光率T┴～10%,偏振度P～70%.实验结果对于其他散射偏光片具有普遍...     

Reliable determination of the few‐layer graphene oxide thickness using Raman spectroscopy

We report on a reference‐free Raman spectroscopy method for a precise thickness determination of the multilayered graphene oxide flakes. The method is based on the normalization of the total integral intensity of D and G Raman bands to the integral intensity of the second‐order optical phonon peak of the silicon substrate in the Raman spectrum. The normalization provides discrete ratio values corresponding to the number of graphene oxide layers in the respective flakes with the intensity linearly increasing with the number of layers. This provides a fast and robust determination of the thickness of graphene oxide flakes in terms of the layer number up to high values. A comparison with conventional spectrally resolved reflectivity mapping shows similar sensitivity, while selectivity to particular functional chemical groups is a bonus of the Raman‐based method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly anisotropic elasticity of a dendrimeric liquid crystal

Magnetic and electrical Freedericksz measurements were performed on the second generation monodendritic liquid crystal G₂(OH). The deduced elastic constants were found to be exceptionally anisotropic: the splay elastic constant K₁₁ is more than an order of magnitude larger than the bend elastic constant K₃₃, and the twist constant K₂₂ is approximately twice K₃₃. The results are discussed in terms of molecular conformations. Received: 23 February 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 26 May 1998     

Effect of copper oxide on the resistive switching responses of graphene oxide film

The role of CuO films in meliorating resistive switching behavior of graphene oxide (GO) in CuO/GO/CuO memory structure was investigated. An increase in the set voltage from 1.3 to 3.0 V and a step-like switching current was clearly observed when the GO film was sandwiched between two CuO layers. It is attributed to the fact that the set voltage of GO is lower than that of CuO and accumulated charge carriers located at the interface of GO and CuO can pass through CuO abruptly at set voltage of 3.0 V. Our results suggested that designed sandwich structure of materials with different set voltage enables to amend resistive switching response characteristics.     

基于变压红外光谱研究离子液体[MPIM][I]与石墨烯氧化物之间的相互作用

本研究利用红外光谱研究不同压力下离子液体1-Methy1-3-propylimidazolium iodide([MPIM][I])与石墨烯及其氧化物的相互作用.结果表明,[MPIM][I]对压力的变化具有高敏感度,咪唑环与烷基链在0.4 GPa时产生相变化,可明显观察到吸收峰的裂解,且连续加压会导致咪唑环与烷基链的振动频率蓝移.[MPIM][I]与石墨烯作用时加压至2.5 GPa也未观测到相变化的产生,且咪唑环与烷基链的振动频率蓝移趋势也不明显;[MPIM][I]与石墨烯氧化物作用时咪唑环与烷基链的结果与添加石墨烯时几乎相同.石墨烯氧化物具有羟基、羧基、环氧基等共价键结在其表面,这些羟基会扰动[MPIM][I]中的咪唑环与烷基链,导致在常压下振动频率发生蓝移,进而表明石墨烯表面的官能基团会与离子液体产生相互作用.     

Real-time pseudocolour-encoding using a low-cost liquid crystal television

The capability of utilizing a low-cost LCTV to encode the brightness of an object and the density of a transparency into pseudocolour is discussed and shown in this note.