弹性形变对丝状相液晶相变的影响

应用Saupe形式的弹性自由能,研究了简单的扭曲,展曲和弯曲形变对相变的影响.结果表明,弹性形变可以产生从各向同性相至双轴丝状相的一级相变,对螺状相液晶,当系统手征性增加并超过某一临界值时,一级相变可过渡到二级相变. 关键词：     

Phase transition in liquid crystal elastomers—A Monte Carlo study employing non-Boltzmann sampling

We investigate nematic-isotropic transition in liquid crystal elastomers employing a variant of Wang-Landau sampling. This technique facilitates calculation of the density of states from which other thermodynamic properties can be obtained. We consider a lattice model of a liquid crystal elastomer and a Hamiltonian which accounts for interactions among liquid crystalline units and interaction of local nematics with global strain. We investigate the effect of varying the strength of coupling between nematic and orientational degrees of freedom. When the local director is coupled strongly to the global strain, the transition is strongly first order. When the strength of the coupling decreases the transition becomes weakly first order. The transition temperature decreases when the coupling becomes weaker. We also report for the first time results on variation of free energy as a function of average energy at different temperatures and coupling constants.     

向列液晶表面弹性能K13项的物理效应及检验方法

通过解析推导和数值计算的方法，得到了平衡态指向矢满足的微分方程和边界条件.研究了表面弹性能K13项对磁场作用下的弱锚定向列液晶盒Fréedericksz转变性质的影响.结果表明，表面弹性能K13项的存在对液晶系统的自由能有很大的影响，从而改变转变的性质，诱导液晶盒在阈值点发生一级Fréedericksz转变.给出了发生一级转变的物理条件，它除了与液晶的结构和材料有关外，还依赖于液晶表面弹性能K13项，同时给出了由此判断K13项是否存在的检验方法. 关键词： 表面弹性能K13项 弱锚定 Fréedericksz转变     

梳型高分子聚合物向列相液晶的相变

本文根据Freiser关于向列相液晶分子相互作用模型,利用平均场理论,建立了梳型高分子聚合物向列相液晶分子的哈密顿量,导出序参数自洽方程,得到各向同性相至单轴向列相以及单轴至双轴向列相的相变,结果表明,当分子主、侧链耦合项中排斥作用及主、侧链中较强向列相场的场强增大时,单轴至双轴向列相相变温度升高,并从一级相变逐渐变为二级相变。 关键词：     

Molecular field theory for nematic liquid crystal film with finite layers

The nematic liquid crystal film composed of n molecular layers is studied based upon a spatially anisotropic pair potential, which reproduces approximately the elastic free energy density. On condition that the system has perfect nematic order, as in the Lebwohl—Lasher model, the director in the film is isotropic. The effect of the temperature is investigated by means of molecular field theory. Some new results are obtained. Firstly, symmetry breaking takes place when taking account of the temperature, and the state with the director along the normal of the film has the lowest free energy. Secondly, the N—I phase transition temperature increases as an effect of finite sizes instead of decreasing as in the Lebwohl—Lasher model. Thirdly, the nematic order is induced in the layers near the surface in the isotropic phase.     

Static dielectric pretransitional effects in thermotropic liquid crystals

The paper presents a review of recent results on static dielectric behaviour in vicinity of weakly first order transition from isotropic liquid to a liquid crystalline nematic phase of compounds used in opto-electronic devices. Temperature behaviour of static permittivity and its derivative are interpreted in terms of a basic thermodynamic quantities increment (internal energy, entropy and Helmholtz free energy) induced by a probing electric field.     

Study of intrinsic anchoring in nematic liquid crystals based on modified Gruhn-Hess pair potential

A nematic liquid crystal slab composed of N molecular layers is investigated using a simple cubic lattice model, based upon the molecular pair potential which is spatially anisotropic and dependent on elastic constants of liquid crystals. A perfect nematic order is assumed in the theoretical treatment, which means the orientation of the molecular long axis coincides with the director of liquid crystal and the total free energy equals to the total interaction energy. We present a modified Gruhn-Hess model, which is relative to the splay-bend elastic constant K₁₃. Furthermore, we have studied the free nematic interfacial behavior (intrinsic anchoring) by this model in the assumption of the perfect nematic order. We find that the preferred orientation at the free interface and the intrinsic anchoring strength change with the value of modification, and that the director profile can be determined by the competition of the intrinsic anchoring with external forces present in the system. Also we simulate the intrinsic anchoring at different temperatures using Monte Carlo method and the simulation results show that the intrinsic anchoring favors planar alignment and the free interface is more disordered than the bulk.     

Director deformation in a nematic liquid crystal with a ferromagnetic nanoparticle suspension

In view of the recent interest regarding nematic liquid crystals with a nanoparticle suspension, we investigate the director dynamics of a nematic matrix in the perspective of a soliton framework. The nematic liquid crystal is dispersed with ferromagnetic nanoparticles in order to enhance the director activity associated with the improved magnetization of the ferronematic matrix. The free energy density of the nematic matrix is deduced to be the Ginzburg–Landau (GL) equation for the director reorientation. We obtain a series of localized solutions for the GL equation, and also the dynamics is expressed in terms of the soliton evolution for the director by using the standard Hirota bilinearization procedure.     

Experimental evidence of the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma effect in liquid crystals

The orientational order parameter decrease, due to nematic director macroscopic fluctuations, is obtained by birefringence measurements around the nematic <--> smectic-A transition temperature of the liquid crystal 4'-n-octyl-4-cyanobiphenyl. The measured nematic order reduction shows the same amplitude as the secondary order parameter discontinuity at the transition providing direct evidence of the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma effect. The importance of nematic director thermal fluctuations on the character of the transition is revealed as their quenching by an electric field of approximately 20 V/micrometer restores the second order character of the transition.     

Influence of pressure on the electric-field-induced phase transitions in liquid crystals

Within the framework of Landau-de-Gennes formulation, we analyse the effect of pressure on electric-field-induced phase transitions in a liquid crystal which shows spontaneously an isotropic-smectic A transition. Inferring from the experimental pressure dependences on the layer spacing in smectic A phase, as well as the nematic-smectic A metastable temperature T^*_AN, we incorporated the pressure dependence in the free energy through (the surface energy term) and the coupling between the quadrupolar nematic ordering Q_ij and the smectic order parameter ψ. From the S-T phase diagram, we found that the stability of field-induced nematic phase increases with pressure, whereas the discontinuity of the transition decreases. Also, the region where paranematic phase transits directly to smectic A phase increases with pressure.     

Effect of nonmesogenic impurities on the order of the nematic to smectic-A phase transition in liquid crystals

By means of adiabatic scanning calorimetry, we have studied the effect of the nonmesogenic solutes cyclohexane (CH) and biphenyl (BP) on the nematic-smectic-A phase transition in the liquid crystal octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB). For all concentrations of BP studied, the transition remains second-order. For 8CB+CH, however, crossover from second-order to first-order is observed at a tricritical point of the mole fraction x of CH around 0.0460. The difference between the two systems and the crossover is explained in terms of a mean-field free energy density expression including coupling terms of x with the nematic and smectic-A order parameters.     

Electrical Freedericksz transitions in nematic liquid crystals containing ferroelectric nanoparticles

A new theoretical approach was elaborated to explain the contradictions reported in many papers about the electric threshold for Freedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystal (NLC) with ferroparticles additives. The free energy density of the mixture was estimated and the contributions of the interaction energy of NLC molecules with ferroparticles surface were calculated. Experimental results for 5CB-BaTiO₃ mixture are given.     

Temperature dependence of the nematic anchoring energy: mean field analysis

In the mean field approximation, we evaluate the temperature dependence of the anchoring energy strength of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with a solid substrate due to thermal fluctuations. Our study is limited to the weak anchoring case, where the microscopic surface energy is small with respect to the mean field energy due to the nematic phase. We assume furthermore that the physical properties of the substrate can be considered temperature independent in the range of the nematic phase. According to the thermodynamical perturbative approach, the macroscopic surface energy is deduced by averaging the microscopic one, with a density matrix containing only the nematic mean field. We show that the thermal renormalization of the anchoring energy coefficients is proportional to the generalized nematic order parameters. Our analysis shows also that the thermal renormalization of the anchoring energy coefficients predicted by means of Landau-like theories is a first and rather rough approximation in the whole nematic temperature range.     

A computational approach to the optical Freedericksz transition

The optical Freedericksz transition in a homeotropic nematic liquid crystal cell is modeled using a solver which combines direct solution of Maxwell’s equations with a relaxation algorithm for the liquid crystal director. We find that even in the equal elastic constant case the continuous optical Freedericksz transition can be driven first order. For films in which the optical retardation of the extraordinary wave is sufficiently large, a whole set of discontinuous jumps in transmission coefficient can occur. These jumps correspond to the existence of optical resonances in the liquid crystal film. Our results agree in the short wavelength limit with paraxial approximation calculations, and provide a strong test of the FDTD method for anisotropic materials such as liquid crystals.     

表面极化对弱锚定向列液晶盒饱和特性的影响

以修正后的Rapini-Papoular锚定能公式为基础, 用理论分析和数值计算相结合的方法, 详细研究表面极化对液晶盒饱和特性的影响. 得出了求解指向矢分布的数学方程, 推导出了计算正常二级转变饱和电压的解析式, 同时结合最新报道, 给出了异常一级转变饱和电压的数值计算方法. 此外, 本文引入了反映指向矢分布特征的参量, 讨论了表面极化对此参量的影响. 结果表明, 指向矢最大倾角的位置随表面极化的增大将远离中央平面向基板移动. 一级转变饱和电压随弱锚定基板表面极化的增大而减小, 随强锚定基板表面极化的增大而增大. 而对二级转变, 饱和电压随表面极化的变化与一级转变恰恰相反. 本文所得结论对液晶表面物理的理解及液晶实际应用都具有重要的指导意义.     

Shear modulus of polydomain, mono-domain and non-mesomorphic side-chain elastomers: Influence of the nematic order

We investigate the behavior of the complex shear modulus of a series of elastomers including mono-domain and poly-domain liquid crystal samples, and a non-mesomorphic sample. We find that the dynamics of the glass transition are strongly modified by the nematic order. This result explains why the truly elastic response of liquid crystal elastomers can only be observed in the isotropic phase at very high temperatures and at very low frequencies. Between the elastic regime and the glassy state, the elastomers have a visco-elastic regime, which is characterized by a Rouse-like behavior for mono-domain and poly-domain samples, and by a Zimm-like behavior for the non-mesomorphic sample. We also show that the mono-domain sample exhibits marked anisotropy of the shear-modulus G ^′. This anisotropy, which is observed for the first time, is a function of frequency and is inverted between low and high frequencies, due to relaxation effects of the orientational order. Received 28 January 2000 and Received in final form 16 October 2000     

Free energy studies of freezing in slit pores: an order-parameter approach using Monte Carlo simulation

We report a molecular simulation study of freezing transitions for simple fluids in narrow slit pores. A major stumbling block in previous studies of freezing in pores has been the lack of any method for calculating the free energy difference between the confined solid and liquid phases. Conventional thermodynamic integration methods often fail for confined systems, due to the difficulty in choosing a suitable path of integration. We use a different approach that involves calculating the Landau free energy as a function of a suitable order parameter, using the grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation method. The grand free energy for each phase can then be obtained by one-dimensional integration of the Landau free energy over the order parameter. These calculations are carried out for two types of wall—fluid interaction, a hard wall and a strongly attractive wall modelled on carbon. The grand free energy results for both cases clearly indicate a first order fluid to solid transition. In the case of the attractive carbon wall, there are three phases. Phase A corresponds to all layers having a liquid-like structure; phase B corresponds to the contact layers (the layers adjacent to the two pore walls) being frozen and the rest of the layers being fluid-like; phase C corresponds to all the layers being frozen. Our results for the angular structure function in the individual molecular layers show strong evidence of a transition from a two-dimensional liquid phase to a hexatic phase. This is followed by a transition from the hexatic to a crystal phase.     

Corresponding states of nematic birefringence: an order parameter universality

In this work, experimental birefringence data of several nematic liquid crystals, which share the presence of a nematic–isotropic and a nematic–crystalline phase transition, are used to show that the birefringence presents a universal behaviour which encompasses the entire range of the nematic phase. The meaning and consequences of such behaviour are discussed; as the order parameter is proportional to the birefringence, this result implies that the order parameter has an extended universal profile, similar to a corresponding state law, which is independent of the liquid crystal compound and becomes determined once the temperature interval of the existence of the nematic compounds is obtained.     

Preparation and characterization of vinyltriethoxysilane based inorganic–organic gel glasses dispersed 4′-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl nematic liquid crystal

Vinyltriethoxysilane based inorganic–organic glasses dispersed with 4′-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl nematic liquid crystal are designed to fabricate a new type of gel glass dispersed with liquid crystal. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the nematic liquid crystal phase, occupying the interconnected cavities, is continuously embedded in the inorganic–organic matrixes. The effect of the nematic liquid crystal weight concentration on the morphology is investigated. The differential scanning calorimetry shows that the nematic-isotropic transition temperature depends on the nematic liquid crystal weight concentration. The Raman spectra show that there are no obvious Raman frequency shifts, compared with pure nematic liquid crystal. The in situ diffuse reflectance FTIR spectra show that the integral intensity of bands of hydroxyls has not varied.     

On the analogy between smectic a liquid crystals and superconductors

The analogy between a smectic A liquid crystal and a superconductor is made closer by a gauge transformation on the smectic system. Within the context of the Wilson-Fisher recursion relations, it is shown that the critical properties of the two systems are the same, and that therefore the phase transition from smectic A to nematic will always be at least weakly first order.