Angular dependent reflections of a monodomain blue phase liquid crystal

Monodomain Blue Phase Liquid Crystal Layers for Phase Modulation

Liquid crystal "Blue Phases" (BP) have evolved, in the last years, from a scientific curiosity to emerging materials for new photonic and display applications. They possess attractive features over standard nematic liquid crystals, like submillisecond switching times and polarization- independent optical response. However, BPs still present a number of technical issues that prevent their use in...

Electric field-induced monodomain blue phase liquid crystals

Sandwich organization of non-ionic surfactant liquid crystalline phases as induced by large inorganic K4Nb6O17 nanosheets.

While retaining its lamellar liquid crystal phase, K4Nb6O17 nanosheets were used as a template to sandwich and stabilize an alkylpoly(ethylene oxide) nonionic surfactant-water system showing monodomain (lamella) formation within the inorganic niobate sheets that appears to be not dependent on the surfactant liquid crystalline state in solution but more its concentration.

Instability of the lattice structure of crystalline liquids near the BPI-BPII phse transition

Essential change of the splitting between reflections (200) and (i10) with temperature in the Blue Phase I (BPI) transmission spectrum in an electric field has been observed. The electrostriction coefficient ruin in BPI increases anomalously, while approaching the BPIBPII phase transition temperature. These results show that the phase transition is connected with lattice instability with increa...

Wide blue phase range of chiral nematic liquid crystal doped with bent-shaped molecules

A wide blue phase range of 29 C is induced by a bent-shaped molecule that is doped in chiral nematic liquid crystals. The physical mechanisms of this effect are investigated through experimental comparisons and molecular simulations. The results obtained indicate that the wide temperature range is closely related to the lower interfacial tension between liquid crystals and defects, and the shri...