热致型胆甾酯液晶的相变研究

使用偏光显微镜观察胆甾烯壬酸酯液晶的相变，发现在不同的温度变化条件下液晶相变过程是不同的．本文讨论了其变化规律．     

弱锚泊对液晶微波相位调制的影响

液晶对微波的调制取决于外加电压作用下液晶分子的取向, 而基板的锚泊对液晶取向有重要影响, 必然导致微波调制的变化. 本文研究了无手性掺杂的弱锚泊90°扭曲向列相液晶的微波调制特性. 基于液晶弹性理论和变分原理得到了液晶盒系统的平衡态方程和边界条件, 采用差分迭代方法数值模拟了不同锚定强度大小和不同预倾角下单位长度相移随电压的变化. 结果表明: 1)预倾角对微波相移的影响与施加电压有关. 当液晶盒施加电压为0.5–1.6 V之间时, 随预倾角增大, 单位长度微波相移及其与强锚泊0°预倾角90°扭曲液晶相移差均增大, 且相移差达到最大时的电压值也随倾角增大而减小; 1.6–3.0 V之间, 单位长度微波相移及相移差随预倾角增大而减小; 1.6 V附近及3.0 V之后, 相移基本没有变化. 2)表面锚定强度大小对微波相移的影响非常大. 随锚定强度减小, 单位长度微波相移及相移差均会增大, 微波相移的可调范围也增大, 且增加越来越明显. 此研究为液晶微波调制器件的设计提供了理论依据.     

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.     

Effect of surface viscosity,anchoring energy,and cell gap on the response time of nematic liquid crystals

An analytical expression for the relaxation time of a nematic liquid crystal is obtained for the first time by considering the influence of surface viscosity, anchoring energy strength and cell gap, validated numerically by using the so-called relaxation method. This general equation for the molecular response time (τ₀${\tau }_0$) was derived for a vertical aligned cell and by solving an eigenvalue equation coming from the usual balance of torque equation in the Derzhanskii and Petrov formulation, recovering the usual equations in the appropriate limit. The results show that τ∼d^b$\tau \sim d^b$, where b=2$b=2$ is observed only for strongly anchored cells, while for moderate to weak anchored cells, the exponent lies between 1 and 2, depending on both, surface viscosity and anchoring strength. We found that the surface viscosity is important when calculating the response time, specially for thin cells, critical for liquid crystal devices. The surface viscosity’s effect on the optical response time with pretilt is also explored. Our results bring new insights about the role of surface viscosity and its effects in applied physics.     

Biphotonic effect-induced phase transition in dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystals and their applications

This work studies the biphotonic effect in samples that are cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) doped with azo-C5. The experimental results show that the photo-isomerization of azo-C5 not only changes the clearing point of the sample, but also shifts the reflection band that is associated with the planar texture. Additionally, azo dye-doped CLCs (DDCLCs) have bi-stable or tri-stable states, as determined by the ambient temperature. Photo-switching between these bi-stable/tri-stable states is systematically studied. The result indicates that photo-addressing one of these states (planar, focal conic, and isotropic states) using a low- or high-intensity Ar⁺ laser beam is feasible. The results thus obtained are used to fabricate a photo-rewritable DDCLC display.     

Photoinduced effects in nematic liquid crystals

Temperature, concentration of the solvent and pressure are the parameters that are well known to bring about phase transitions in liquid-crystalline systems. In recent years a new parameter has been added to this list: light. The principle behind these photoinduced transitions is the light-driven shape transformation of certain photoactive materials like, e.g., azobenzene. In this article, we present results of various aspects of our recent investigations on such photoinduced transitions in the nematic phase and highlight the feature that light is a new tool to study phase transitions and the associated critical phenomena.     

Asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating in nematic liquid crystal

A new scheme for recording a dynamic phase grating with an asymmetric profile in C60-doped homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal(NLC) was presented.An oblique incidence beam was used to record the thin asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating.The diffraction efficiency we achieved is more than 40%,exceeding the theoretical limit for symmetric profile gratings.Both facts can be explained by assuming that a grating with an asymmetric saw-tooth profile is formed in the NLC.Finally,physical mechanism and mathematical model for characterizing the asymmetric phase holographic grating were presented,based on the photo-refractive-like(PR-like) effect.     

液晶表面物理——挠曲电效应研究及进展

向列液晶的“挠曲电效应”在1969年由Meyer首先提出,30年后这一理论才被重视.文章回顾了挠曲电效应的研究历程,总结了已取得的成果,并就挠曲电研究中的基础问题、研究进展、研究现状及存在的问题进行了系统的介绍,为从事此方面研究的工作者提供参考.     

Isotropic to ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals phase transitions

This review is an attempt towards a unified picture of the direct transitions from the isotropic liquid to ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystalline phases formed by rod-like and bent-core molecules. The Landau–Ginzburg theories of the phase transitions between the isotropic liquid to ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystalline phases in compounds composed of chiral rod-like molecules and achiral bent-core molecules are presented. This includes a discussion of the nature of the order parameters and the nature of the various types of phase transitions. The various predictions are compared with the available experimental results.     

Kerr effect and Kerr constant enhancement in vertically aligned deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystals

In this article,we review recently achieved Kerr effect progress in novel liquid crystal(LC) material:vertically aligned deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystal(VADHFLC).With an increasing applied electric field,the induced inplane birefringence of LCs shows quadratic nonlinearity.The theoretical calculations and experimental details are illustrated.With an enhanced Kerr constant to 130 nm/V2,this VADHFLC cell can achieve a 2π modulation by a small efficient electric field with a fast response around 100 μs and thus can be employed in both display and photonics devices.     

液晶中一种稳定的相态:蓝相

文章描述了胆甾相液晶中蓝相的研究现况．蓝相(BP)是液晶中具有特殊性质的一个相态，它的序参量表现出三维空间周期性．蓝相是出现在一个狭小的温度间隔里(量级为0．1—1K)的稳定相态．文章对已观察到的BPⅠ，BPⅡ，BPⅢ(“雾”相)的性质做了简要的叙述．对研究液晶蓝相的主要理论——Ginzburg-Landau理论(唯象理论)作了介绍，并指出了蓝相研究的实际物理意义。     

胆甾相和蓝相液晶的透射和反射特性

针对蓝相液晶显示器中的暗态漏光特性, 采用时域有限差分方法模拟计算了胆甾相液晶的平面态和焦锥态以及蓝相II态液晶的透射和反射特性, 得到了它们在正交和平行偏振片之间的漏光, 并提出了计算等效旋光能力的公式以比较它们的旋光能力. 通过对比焦锥态和蓝相液晶的旋光能力和漏光特性发现, 采用焦锥态替代蓝相液晶而得到良好的暗态特性是一种可行的方法. 通过研究它们的布拉格反射特性, 得知蓝相液晶的布拉格反射与平面态相似, 但反射强度小, 焦锥态无明显的布拉格反射特性.     

Optical modulation in nematic phase of halogen substituted hydrogen bonded liquid crystals

A series of halogen-substituted hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline complexes have been designed and synthesised. A successful attempt has been made to form complementary hydrogen bonding between the dodecyloxy benzoic acid (12BAO) and halogen-substituted benzoic acids and the physical properties exhibited by the individual complexes are studied. The complexes obtained are analysed by polarising optical microscope (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dielectric studies. The formation of complementary hydrogen bond is confirmed through FTIR spectra. An interesting feature of this series is the observation of a field-induced transition (FiT) in nematic phase. Another interesting phenomenon is the observation of a new smectic X phase (worm-like texture) in all the synthesised complexes. Dielectric relaxation studies in the smectic C phase of these hydrogen bonded complexes along with the Arrhenius and the Cole–Cole plots are discussed. Optical tilt angle in smectic C phase and the corresponding fitted data analysis concur with the Mean field theory prediction.     

Effect of electric field on reentrance transition in a binary mixture of liquid crystals

Employing a phenomenological mean field theory, we analyze the effect of an electric field on the N ? SmA phase transition for pure liquid crystal and on the reentrant nematic phase in a binary mixture of liquid crystals exhibiting the phase sequence I ? N ? SmA ? N_R on cooling. The basic idea of the work is to explain the phase transition behavior of the system by assuming that certain Landau coefficients associated with the order parameters coupling terms of the free-energy density expansion are field dependent. These parameters play a crucial role and show a rapid variation at the SmA ? N_R transition as compared to the SmA ? N transition.     

液晶空间光调制器相位调制测量及波前校正

提供了一种简单且精度较好的测量液晶空间光调制器相位调制特性的方法,即相位与电压(灰度)之间的关系。采用数字波面移相干涉仪,由干涉仪直接给出不同灰度对应的相位差,从而得到液晶空间光调制器的相位调制曲线。利用液晶空间光调制器实现了波前校正。由干涉仪作波前测试,对待校正的畸变波前进行泽尼克多项式描述,根据液晶空间光调制器的相位与灰度的关系,产生相应的灰度图,获得畸变波前的共轭波前,从而完成静态波前的校正,使相关参数如PV值、RMS值和Strehl比值得到了改善。     

向列相液晶中光学相位共轭技术的研究进展

对向列相液晶中光学相位共轭技术的研究进展进行了介绍,分析总结了向列相液晶中光学相位共轭过程的机理与实验方法,并对向列相液晶中的光学相位共轭技术的应用前景进行了展望。     

Reentrant phase transitions in liquid crystals

A comprehensive review of the recent developments regarding the phenomenon of reentrant phase transitions (RPT) in liquid crystals is presented. In addition to liquid crystals this phenomenon has been observed in amazingly diverse systems. A critical assessment of the experimental investigations concerning single and multiple reentrances is given. A brief account of the theoretical efforts is also given. The article ends with the identification of the factors which impede the proper understanding of the phenomenon.     

Thermomechanical reorientation in nematic liquid crystals

Thermomechanical mechanism of the director reorientation in twisted nematic liquid crystals caused by the one-dimensional longitudinal temperature gradient is predicted and studied theoretically. The calculated director reorientations are in the range that can be measured experimentally very easily.     

Universal scaling of dielectric response of various liquid crystals and glass-forming liquids

Abstract

We present a new generalized scaling relationship accounting both for the real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity data. The generalized scaling procedure has been successfully used for various relaxation processes in liquid crystals (4-bromobenzylidene-4′-pentyloxyaniline, 4-bromobenzylidene-4′-hexyloxyaniline, 4′-butyl-4-(2-methylbutoxy)-azoxybenzene, 4-ethyl-4′-octylazoxybenzene), and in glass-forming liquids (glycerol, propylene carbonate, salol, cresolphthalein-dimethylether). As it is shown, one obtains common master-curve for liquid-like phases (isotropic liquid, cholesteric, nematic, smectic A), solid-like phases (smectic B, conformationally disorder crystal) and supercooled liquid phase.     

The cone phase of liquid crystals: Triangular lattice of double-tilt cylinders

We predict the existence of a new defect-lattice phase near the nematic-smectic-C(NC) transition. This tilt-analogue of the blue phase is a lattice of double-tilt cylinders which are disclination lines in the smectic layer normal as well as the c-field. We discuss the structure and stability of the cone phase. We suggest that many ‘nematics’ exhibiting short range layering and tilt order may in fact be in the molten cone phase, which is a line liquid.