Shear-Induced Orientation of a Liquid Crystal Copolyester

Shear-induced orientational effects in discotic-liquid-crystal micelles.

Direct Measurement of Fluid Mechanical Properties in Micro Space: Liquid Crystal Orientation under Shear

The shear-induced molecular orientation of a nematic liquid crystal, 5CB (4-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl) was studied in a newly-developed apparatus in which the liquid crystal was confined between optical windows at a film thickness that is continuously variable. The molecular orientation was measured in situ during shear in the presence and absence of DC electrical bias between the two surfaces. I...

Liquid crystal orientation transition on microtextured substrates.

A uniform alignment of liquid crystal (LC) with finite pretilt was observed on microtextured substrates that were lithographically fabricated with alternating horizontal and vertical corrugations. As the period of alternation was decreased toward 0.8 microm, the nematic LC alignment on these substrates changed from inhomogeneous in plane, copying the substrate corrugations, to a uniform configu...

Effect of confinement on electric field induced orientation of a nematic liquid crystal.

We report the effect of confinement on the electric field induced orientation of a nematic liquid crystal, 4-cyano-4'-hexylbiphenyl (6CB), between mica surfaces. The resonance shear measurement was employed for monitoring changes in the viscosity of 6CB at various surface separation distances (D) with and without an applied electric field. The viscosity depended on the surface separations, and ...

Measurement of electrically induced shear strain in a chiral smectic liquid-crystal elastomer.

The mechanical response to electrical stimulation was investigated in a chiral smectic elastomer. The two-dimensional strain tensor in an elastomer film was precisely measured by tracking fluorescent beads dispersed on the film. Shear deformation in the film was clearly observed when an electric field was applied perpendicular to the film surface. The temperature dependence of the strain tensor...