Optical phase conjugation in the hybrid polymer liquid crystal panel

In this paper, we present experimental results of the optical phase conjugation (PC) process in nematic liquid crystal cell with a photoconducting polymer layer (PVK doped with TNF). We analyze and discuss the influence of a few parameters (applied voltage, power of the laser beams, and geometry of an experiment) on conjugation efficiency. We also present experimental results showing possible application of the optical phase conjugation phenomenon in correction of phase distortion and aberration.     

Observation of dielectric relaxation modes in chiral smectic C liquid crystal mixture

The dielectric parameters in the frequency range 50 Hz to 1 MHz have been measured in a SmC* liquid crystal mixture in planar alignment. The relaxation frequency (f_r), distribution parameter (α) and dielectric strength (δε) have been evaluated and their corresponding values were found to be 206.62 Hz, 0.06 and 114.6 respectively. The Goldstone mode, domain mode, soft mode and a new relaxation mode have been observed.     

Full prediction of the broadband optical modulation performance of a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell

We present a procedure to obtain the physical parameters responsible of twisted nematic liquid crystal (LC) cells optical modulation. The novelty of our approach is based on the use of spectroscopic measurements of the light transmitted by the system polarizer-LC cell-analyzer, combined with a previously proposed simple physical model of the LC twist and tilt distribution along cell. The procedure involves two steps: the first one yields off-state parameters like the LC director orientation, the twist angle, and the optical path difference (cell gap); the second step yields the effective retardances of the central and edge LC layers. The use of a spectroscopic method provides a full characterization of the LC cell as a function of both the voltage and the wavelength. The complete procedure leads to a very accurate prediction of the transmitted light broadband spectrum, as well as the complex (amplitude and phase) modulation for any wavelength within the calibration range.     

Tilted smectic layers of a liquid crystal between homeotropically treated plates

We investigated SmC^* films sandwiched between silane coated glass plates and observed formation of textures exhibiting a uniform tilt of the smectic layers with respect to the boundary plates. The layer tilt angle increases from zero to as the sample is cooled from the smectic A phase to room temperature. These films show linear electro-optical effects because the permanent polarization can be aligned so that it has a component parallel to the applied field without changing the layer structure. Our analysis indicates that mainly two effects determine the layer tilt. On the one hand, the surface tension tends to minimise the layer tilt. On the other hand, the surface energy promotes the director to be normal to the boundary plates. Received 17 July 1998     

Magnetic phase diagram for CuMn

To study the magnetic phases of CuMn, we carry out a generalized perturbation expansion of the band energy across the composition range. We obtain the pair energy using the orbital peeling technique of Burke, based on the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital and augmented space recursion methods. We analyze the phases of the system by studying the probability distribution of the local staggered occupation ’fields’ within a mean-field approach. We show that our predicted phase boundaries agree well with experimental results.     

Electro-optical properties and(E,F) phase diagram of fluorinated chiral smectic liquid crystals

Fluorinated smectic liquid crystals each with a biphenyl benzoate rigid core are investigated. Molecular structures of the studied compounds have difference only in fluorine position and the length of the carbon chain. Dielectric relaxation study and electro-optical measurements are carried out with the classical SSFLC geometry. The field-induced phase transitions are studied and the(E,T) phase diagram is established.     

Protein crystal growth: An approach based on phase diagram determination

There is an increasing need to rationalize protein crystal growth, mostly carried out so far by trial-and-error. The phase rule gives the number of conditions necessary to specify the state of protein crystallization in equilibrium. Unsaturated and supersaturated regions are distinguished in phase diagrams. Examples of such diagrams for protein crystals are tabulated. To determine the phase diagrams reliably, the following items are discussed: (1) proper crystallization methods, (2) the length of time needed for establishing equilibrium, and (3) the importance of specifying the kind of solid state. Various crystallization methods are compared as to their effect on the solution system by using the phase diagrams, and the potential usefulness of the diagrams for crystallizing new proteins is discussed.     

Synthesis and phase transition behaviours of laterally substituted liquid crystals containing methylhydroquinone: emerging of smectic C phase for higher homologues

A series of laterally substituted low-molar-mass liquid crystals with molecular geometry were constructed with three phenyl rings bridged through ester central groups as the rigid core and a lateral methyl group as the flexible part of a molecule, with a view to understanding and establishing the effect of molecular structure on liquid crystal behaviour. Low-molar-mass mesogens known as 1,4-bis[(4′-n-alkyloxybenzoyl)oxy]toluene with different number of carbon (n) at the alkyl chain have been prepared. Their molecular structures were proposed via physical measurements and spectroscopic techniques. Mesomorphic properties were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry, optical polarizing microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The results showed that the melting points as well as the clearing temperatures decreased upon lengthening of the terminal alkyloxy chain lengths. Members with the shorter chain (n = 2–10) exhibited nematic phase. As for higher homologues, members with n = 12, 14, 16 and 18 showed polymorphism, whereby these compounds displayed both smectic and nematic properties.     

直接相关函数对双模晶体相场模型相图的影响

研究了直接相关函数峰宽及 k=0处峰对双模晶体相场模型相图的影响. 结果表明, 随着峰宽的增加, 有序相的相区范围不断增大. 而增大峰宽比可使体心立方(bcc)相区范围缩小, 面心立方(fcc)相区范围大幅增加.直接相关函数 k=0峰的引入则使相图被压缩, 两相共存区变窄, 液相稳定区域增加. 关键词： 晶体相场模型 双模近似 相图 直接相关函数     

Measurements of absolute values of electrooptic coefficients in a ferroelectric liquid crystal

Weak external electric field E causes two effects in chiral smectic liquid crystals: linear change of the optic axis direction and modification of the shape of the indicatrix. The relative changes in the light intensity consist of two components. The first component represents the modulation with the fundamental frequency f and the second one, with the doubled frequency 2f (second harmonic). We carried out measurements of the electrooptic modulation at both the first and second harmonics frequency. The applied calibration procedure allowed for expressing the experimental results as angular quantities independent of experimental conditions. Therefore we were able to determine the absolute values of the coefficients describing both effects of the electric field on the optical properties of the sample. We studied the temperature dependence of the first and second order coefficients in the ferroelectric smectic C? and paraelectric smectic A phases. The experiments delivered an information on the structure of tilted smectic liquid crystals and its dependence on the electric field.     

Field-induced phase transitions in chiral smectic liquid crystals studied by the constant current method

In ferroelectric liquid crystals, phase transitions can be induced by an electric field. The current constant method allows these transition to be quickly localized and thus the(E, T) phase diagram of the studied product can be obtained.In this work, we make a slight modification to the measurement principles based on this method. This modification allows the characteristic parameters of ferroelectric liquid crystal to be quantitatively measured. The use of a current square signal highlights a phenomenon of ferroelectric hysteresis with remnant polarization at null field, which points out an effect of memory in this compound.     

Temporal electrical response of chiral smectic liquid crystal displays with V/W-shaped electrooptical characteristic

Chiral smectic liquid crystal cells showing V-shaped electrooptical switching have been reported as one of the most promising technologies for high-end display applications. In this work, time-resolved electrical behaviour of these devices has been obtained through a set of systematic measurements. The electrical equivalent circuit has been derived, a number of simulations at different frequencies have been performed using commercial software for analogue circuits. Performance of this electrical model to account for time domain variations of switching currents in chiral smectic LC displays with V/W-shaped electrooptical response has been analyzed as well.     

反射式液晶光阀用于激光束空间整形可行性研究

 从理论和实验两方面对一种反射式液晶光阀（LCOS）的调制特性进行了研究。着重研究了在高功率激光系统中,反射式液晶光阀作为空间整形器件面临的一些应用问题,特别是它的各种调制特性、整形能力以及对于光束质量的影响。研究发现,与透射式液晶光阀相比,反射式液晶光阀有着明显的优势,效率达到42%,远远优于透射式液晶光阀10%的效率,从而能够实现系统的大幅度简化,是一种非常有潜力的空间光调制器件。     

Blue phase liquid crystal phase transition for cyano compound chiral nematic liquid crystal mixtures with three two-ring core structures and chiral dopant concentrations

Blue phase (BP) temperature range of a chiral nematic liquid crystal (LC) mixture is dependent upon the host nematic LC chemical structure and chiral dopant concentration. In this study, we investigated BP phase transition behaviour and helical twisting power (HTP) using three chiral dopant concentrations of cyano compound chiral nematic LC mixtures incorporating three two-ring core structures in the host nematic LCs. The effect of the host nematic LC core structure, HTP and chiral dopant concentrations were considered on BP temperature ranges, for two types of complete BPI and BPII without isotropic phase (Iso) and two types of coexistence state of BPI+Iso and BPII+Iso.     

铁电液晶MBOPDOB相变的光散射研究

我们对铁电液晶 MBOPDOB 进行了温度有关的拉曼散射研究。在低频范围记录了三条拉曼谱线(15,49,93cm~(-1))。其中15和49cm~(-1)谱线消失于 C-Sm C相变温度,没有检测到任何频移现象。93cm~(-1)拉曼线产生部分频移,消失于各向同性相,联系着偶极-偶极互作用。高频范围四个振动模(1178和1116cm~(-1),1710和1738cm~(-1))之间能量转移归于由电子转移引起的 C=0键硬化和 C-0健的弱化。同时也讨论了该液晶 Sm C-Sm A 相变的二级连续型特征。     

Mid-wave infrared liquid crystal shutter for breathalyzer applications

There exists a problem with an in situ diagnostics of contamination of ethyl alcohol in a human being exhaled air. When ethyl alcohol in a mouth blowing (in a gaseous state) exists, the characteristic CH stretch absorption bands in CH₃ and CH₂ functional groups in ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH) appear at a wavelength of λ = 3.42 μm. To investigate the presence of ethyl alcohol in exhaled human air, the light beam of λ = 3.42 μm is passing through an air sample. If one alternately measures the intensity of the investigated beam and the reference, a percentage of ethanol in the air sample can be estimated using a sensitive nondispersive infrared (NDIR) system with a stable operating flow mass detector. To eliminate a mechanical chopper and noise generating stepper motors, a photonic chopper as a liquid crystal shutter for λ = 3.42 μm has been designed. For this purpose, an innovative infrared nematic liquid crystal mixture was intentionally prepared. The working mixture was obtained by a selective removal of CH bonds and its exchange by heavier polar substituents, what ensures a lack of absorption band of CH bonds. The paper presents theory, concept and final experimental results of the infrared nematic liquid crystals mixture and the liquid crystal shutter for breathalyzer applications.     

Electro-optical properties of smectic liquid crystal-polymer composite with a negative dispersion of birefringence

Two-dimensionally self-organized smectic liquid crystal (LC)-polymer composite has been reported to show a negative dispersion of birefringence [H. Lee and J.-H. Lee, Opt. Lett. 39, 5146 (2014)]. In this paper, we separately measured the extraordinary and ordinary refractive indices n_e and n_o of the pure LC and LC-polymer composite and simulated the dependence of the transmittance and the color on the viewing angle for the display application. The LC-polymer composite with the negative dispersion property showed a wider viewing angle and a smaller color shift compared to the pure liquid crystal with a positive dispersion of birefringence.     

Effect of defects and surface anchoring on the phase behavior of chiral smectic liquid crystals

The influence of defects and surface effects on the stability of phenomena accompanying phase transitions, mainly coexistence phenomenon, has been studied. Experimental measurements were carried out by varying the cell thickness and using simple experimental on chiral smectic liquid crystal product. The analysis of the results with different cell thickness leads us to interpret the anomaly shown by our product related to impact of defects and surface effects. Moreover, the phase transition is affected by the trace of defects for thick cell and by the surface effect for thin cell. These effects have the same role as an electric local field which can induce phase transition.     

Two-phase regime in the magnetic field–temperature phase diagram of a type-II superconductor

The magnetic field and temperature dependencies of the magnetic moments of superconducting crystals of V₃Si have been studied. In a constant magnetic field and at temperatures somewhat below the superconducting transition temperature, the moments are hysteretic in temperature. However, the magnetic moment–magnetic field isotherms are reversible and exhibit features that formally resemble the pressure–volume isotherms of the liquid–gas transition. This suggests the existence of a first-order phase transition, a two-phase regime, and a critical point in the superconducting phase diagram. The two phases are disordered vortex configurations with the same magnetization, but with different vortex densities. The entropy change, determined from the data using the Clausius–Clapeyron equation, is consistent with estimates based on the difference in the vortex densities of the two phases.