Surface anchoring of nematic liquid crystal 8OCB on a DMOAP‐silanated glass surface

Dynamic light scattering spectroscopy has been used to determine the temperature dependence of the anchoring strength of the nematic liquid crystal 8OCB on DMOAP‐silanated glass surfaces inducing homeotropic alignment. Wedge‐type glass cells with known thickness profile starting from 150 nm to several microns have been used in the experiments. The relaxation rates of the nematic fluctuations with the wave vector perpendicular to the confining surfaces have been measured as a function of the cell thickness. Fitting of the thickness dependence of the relaxation rate allows for straightforward determination of the surface extrapolation length and therefore also the strength of the surface anchoring, which is 1×10^?4 J m^?2. The overall experimental accuracy of the experiments is discussed.     

Temperature dependence of the helical period in the ferrielectric smectic phases of MHPOBC and 10OTBBB1M7

We have measured the temperature dependence of the helical period in the ferroelectric, ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases of (R)-MHPOBC and (R)-10OTBBB1M7. A combination of polarizing microscopy, measurements of optical rotation and the frequency dispersion of the electro-optic linear response has been used to determine both the magnitude and sense of the helical period.     

Temperature dependence of the helical period in the ferrielectric smectic phases of MHPOBC and 10OTBBB1M7

We have measured the temperature dependence of the helical period in the ferroelectric, ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases of ( R )-MHPOBC and ( R )-10OTBBB1M7. A combination of polarizing microscopy, measurements of optical rotation and the frequency dispersion of the electro-optic linear response has been used to determine both the magnitude and sense of the helical period.     

Anisotropic laser trapping in nematic colloidal dispersion

The interaction between a colloidal particle and a focused laser beam in a nematic liquid crystal reveals an unusual anisotropic Coulomb-like character. Experiments demonstrate two opposite directions in which the particle is attracted to and repelled from the nematic region deformed by the light-induced director reorientation. In this work we present analytical analysis of such behavior and derive the energy of interaction between colloidal particle and deformed director field. The analytical solution is in good agreement with recent results obtained by computer simulation.     

Transport and crystallization of colloidal particles in a thin nematic cell

In a thin planar nematic cell, the application of an AC electric field induces a macroscopic transport of micrometer-sized colloidal particles along the nematic director. We have analyzed the dependence of particle velocities on the electric-field amplitude and frequency and found that it decreases exponentially with increasing frequency. Using specially designed electrodes we have observed that colloidal particles could be pumped and accelerated across the field-no-field interface, and measured the structural force and the corresponding potential, which is of the order of 10000 k_BT for 4μm particles. We demonstrate that spatially periodic close-packed crystalline colloidal structures can be obtained, which are thermodinamically metastable for many days after turning off the electric field and slowly decay into linear chains. Above the nematic-isotropic phase transition, such crystalline structures are non-stable and decay in few minutes.     

On a certain identity satisfied by a derivation and an arbitrary additive mapping

Summary LetR be a prime ring andd be a nonzero derivation ofR. If an additive mappingf ofR satisfiesd(x)f(x) = 0 for allx R, thenf vanishes on some nonzero left ideal ofR and on some nonzero right ideal ofR.     

Light-driven oscillations of entangled nematic colloidal chains

Laser tweezers have been used to drive the oscillations of a chain of entangled colloidal particles in the nematic liquid crystal 5CB. The amplitude and phase of light-driven oscillations have been determined for the motion of individual colloidal particles. The collective motion of 4.8μm silica particles is highly damped for a driving frequency above 0.5Hz. The results were compared to an effective bead-spring model, where the motion of elastically coupled particles is hindered by viscous damping and hydrodynamic coupling. Qualitative agreement between theory and experiment was obtained.     

Surface anchoring of nematic liquid crystal 8OCB on a DMOAP-silanated glass surface

Dynamic light scattering spectroscopy has been used to determine the temperature dependence of the anchoring strength of the nematic liquid crystal 8OCB on DMOAP-silanated glass surfaces inducing homeotropic alignment. Wedge-type glass cells with known thickness profile starting from 150 nm to several microns have been used in the experiments. The relaxation rates of the nematic fluctuations with the wave vector perpendicular to the confining surfaces have been measured as a function of the cell thickness. Fitting of the thickness dependence of the relaxation rate allows for straightforward determination of the surface extrapolation length and therefore also the strength of the surface anchoring, which is 1×10^-4 J m^-2. The overall experimental accuracy of the experiments is discussed.     

Electrically tunable diffraction of light from 2D nematic colloidal crystals

We show that diffraction of visible light from 2D dipolar nematic colloidal crystals can be tuned electrically. When the external electric field of ∼ 1V/μm is applied in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the 2D colloidal crystal, the induced strain is highly anisotropic, and the inter-colloidal spacing changes by as much as 20% along one direction and ∼ 2% along the perpendicular one. Although the speed of response is in the range of several seconds, this novel mechanism could provide interesting photonic applications.