scholarly journals Liquid-crystal-based topological photonics

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. e2020525118
Author(s):  
Hamed Abbaszadeh ◽  
Michel Fruchart ◽  
Wim van Saarloos ◽  
Vincenzo Vitelli
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Geometric Phase ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Light Propagation ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Photonic Materials ◽  
Nematic Director ◽  
Optical Axes ◽  
Topological States

Liquid crystals are complex fluids that allow exquisite control of light propagation thanks to their orientational order and optical anisotropy. Inspired by recent advances in liquid-crystal photo-patterning technology, we propose a soft-matter platform for assembling topological photonic materials that holds promise for protected unidirectional waveguides, sensors, and lasers. Crucial to our approach is to use spatial variations in the orientation of the nematic liquid-crystal molecules to emulate the time modulations needed in a so-called Floquet topological insulator. The varying orientation of the nematic director introduces a geometric phase that rotates the local optical axes. In conjunction with suitably designed structural properties, this geometric phase leads to the creation of topologically protected states of light. We propose and analyze in detail soft photonic realizations of two iconic topological systems: a Su–Schrieffer–Heeger chain and a Chern insulator. The use of soft building blocks potentially allows for reconfigurable systems that exploit the interplay between topological states of light and the underlying responsive medium.

scholarly journals Electrically powered motions of toron crystallites in chiral liquid crystals

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (12) ◽  
pp. 6437-6445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley R. O. Sohn ◽  
Ivan I. Smalyukh
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Rigid Particles ◽  
Deformable Particle ◽  
External Stresses ◽  
Oscillating Electric Field ◽  
Experimental Geometry ◽  
Chiral Liquid Crystals

Malleability of metals is an example of how the dynamics of defects like dislocations induced by external stresses alters material properties and enables technological applications. However, these defects move merely to comply with the mechanical forces applied on macroscopic scales, whereas the molecular and atomic building blocks behave like rigid particles. Here, we demonstrate how motions of crystallites and the defects between them can arise within the soft matter medium in an oscillating electric field applied to a chiral liquid crystal with polycrystalline quasi-hexagonal arrangements of self-assembled topological solitons called “torons.” Periodic oscillations of electric field applied perpendicular to the plane of hexagonal lattices prompt repetitive shear-like deformations of the solitons, which synchronize the electrically powered self-shearing directions. The temporal evolution of deformations upon turning voltage on and off is not invariant upon reversal of time, prompting lateral translations of the crystallites of torons within quasi-hexagonal periodically deformed lattices. We probe how these motions depend on voltage and frequency of oscillating field applied in an experimental geometry resembling that of liquid crystal displays. We study the interrelations between synchronized deformations of the soft solitonic particles and their arrays, and the ensuing dynamics and giant number fluctuations mediated by motions of crystallites, five–seven defects pairs, and grain boundaries in the orderly organizations of solitons. We discuss how our findings may lead to technological and fundamental science applications of dynamic self-assemblies of topologically protected but highly deformable particle-like solitons.

scholarly journals Biaxial ferromagnetic liquid crystal colloids

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (38) ◽  
pp. 10479-10484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingkun Liu ◽  
Paul J. Ackerman ◽  
Tom C. Lubensky ◽  
Ivan I. Smalyukh
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Composite Materials ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Dipole Moments ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Practical Realization ◽  
Mesoscopic Scale ◽  
Information Displays ◽  
Magnetic Switching

The design and practical realization of composite materials that combine fluidity and different forms of ordering at the mesoscopic scale are among the grand fundamental science challenges. These composites also hold a great potential for technological applications, ranging from information displays to metamaterials. Here we introduce a fluid with coexisting polar and biaxial ordering of organic molecular and magnetic colloidal building blocks exhibiting the lowest symmetry orientational order. Guided by interactions at different length scales, rod-like organic molecules of this fluid spontaneously orient along a direction dubbed “director,” whereas magnetic colloidal nanoplates order with their dipole moments parallel to each other but pointing at an angle to the director, yielding macroscopic magnetization at no external fields. Facile magnetic switching of such fluids is consistent with predictions of a model based on competing actions of elastic and magnetic torques, enabling previously inaccessible control of light.

Reversible microscale assembly of nanoparticles driven by the phase transition of a thermotropic liquid crystal

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niamh Mac Fhionnlaoich ◽  
Stephen Schrettl ◽  
Nicholas B. Tito ◽  
Ye Yang ◽  
Malavika Nair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phase Transition ◽  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Nematic Phase ◽  
Hierarchical Control ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Model System ◽  
Microscopic Level ◽  
Reversible Process ◽  
Thermotropic Liquid Crystal

The arrangement of nanoscale building blocks into patterns with microscale periodicity is challenging to achieve via self-assembly processes. Here, we report on the phase transition-driven collective assembly of gold nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal. A temperature-induced transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase leads to the assembly of individual nanometre-sized particles into arrays of micrometre-sized aggregates, whose size and characteristic spacing can be tuned by varying the cooling rate. This fully reversible process offers hierarchical control over structural order on the molecular, nanoscopic, and microscopic level and is an interesting model system for the programmable patterning of nanocomposites with access to micrometre-sized periodicities.

scholarly journals Novel Bloch wave excitation platform based on few-layer photonic crystal deposited on D-shaped optical fiber

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esteban Gonzalez-Valencia ◽  
Ignacio Del Villar ◽  
Pedro Torres
Keyword(s):  
Optical Fibers ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Light Propagation ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Optical Network ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Bloch Wave ◽  
Nanophotonic Devices ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractWith the goal of ultimate control over the light propagation, photonic crystals currently represent the primary building blocks for novel nanophotonic devices. Bloch surface waves (BSWs) in periodic dielectric multilayer structures with a surface defect is a well-known phenomenon, which implies new opportunities for controlling the light propagation and has many applications in the physical and biological science. However, most of the reported structures based on BSWs require depositing a large number of alternating layers or exploiting a large refractive index (RI) contrast between the materials constituting the multilayer structure, thereby increasing the complexity and costs of manufacturing. The combination of fiber–optic-based platforms with nanotechnology is opening the opportunity for the development of high-performance photonic devices that enhance the light-matter interaction in a strong way compared to other optical platforms. Here, we report a BSW-supporting platform that uses geometrically modified commercial optical fibers such as D-shaped optical fibers, where a few-layer structure is deposited on its flat surface using metal oxides with a moderate difference in RI. In this novel fiber optic platform, BSWs are excited through the evanescent field of the core-guided fundamental mode, which indicates that the structure proposed here can be used as a sensing probe, along with other intrinsic properties of fiber optic sensors, as lightness, multiplexing capacity and easiness of integration in an optical network. As a demonstration, fiber optic BSW excitation is shown to be suitable for measuring RI variations. The designed structure is easy to manufacture and could be adapted to a wide range of applications in the fields of telecommunications, environment, health, and material characterization.

A chiral–racemic lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal system

Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan K. Ando ◽  
Peter J. Collings
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Optical Microscopy ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Molecular Assemblies ◽  
Polarized Optical Microscopy ◽  
Crystal System ◽  
System P ◽  
Liquid Crystal System

A lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal consists of oriented molecular assemblies in solution. If the molecules are chiral, the helical pattern of orientational order is revealed by the stripes seen with polarized optical microscopy.

scholarly journals The interplay between spatial and heliconical orientational order in twist-bend nematic materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 4055-4063
Author(s):  
R. Saha ◽  
C. Feng ◽  
C. Welch ◽  
G. H. Mehl ◽  
J. Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Correlation Length ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Smectic Phase ◽  
Sulfur Containing

In sulfur containing liquid crystal dimers we find that at the transition to the NTB phase the positional correlation length drops. The nanoscale periodicity was also observed in the upper range of a smectic phase that forms below the NTB state.

scholarly journals Liquid Crystal Ordering in the Hexagonal Phase of Rod-Coil Diblock Copolymers

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1262
Author(s):  
Mikhail A. Osipov ◽  
Maxim V. Gorkunov ◽  
Alexander A. Antonov
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Order Parameter ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Diblock Copolymers ◽  
Microphase Separation ◽  
Hexagonal Phase ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Order Parameters ◽  
Copolymer Composition ◽  
Rigid Rod

Density functional theory of rod-coil diblock copolymers, developed recently by the authors, has been generalised and used to study the liquid crystal ordering and microphase separation effects in the hexagonal, lamellar and nematic phases. The translational order parameters of rod and coil monomers and the orientational order parameters of rod-like fragments of the copolymer chains have been determined numerically by direct minimization of the free energy. The phase diagram has been derived containing the isotropic, the lamellar and the hexagonal phases which is consistent with typical experimental data. The order parameter profiles as functions of temperature and the copolymer composition have also been determined in different anisotropic phases. Finally, the spatial distributions of the density of rigid rod fragments and of the corresponding orientational order parameter in the hexagonal phase have been calculated.

Line broadening in the electron resonance spectra of spin probes dissolved in anisotropic media: the effect of nuclear spin quantization

1977 ◽  
Vol 353 (1672) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Liquid Crystals ◽  
Nuclear Spin ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Orientational Order ◽  
Anisotropic Media ◽  
Approximate Theory ◽  
Spin Probes ◽  
Line Broadening ◽  
Electron Resonance

The line broadening in the electron resonance spectra of monoradicals dissolved in anisotropic media, such as liquid crystals, provides a valuable probe of both the orientational order and the molecular dynamics. However, the fast-motion relaxation theory employed to extract this information from the linewidths assumes that the nuclear spin is quantized along the direction of the magnetic field. This approximation is only correct when the symmetry axis of a uniaxial liquid crystal is either parallel or perpendicular to the field. We have therefore removed this assumption and have developed a general theory of line broadening valid for all orientations of the liquid crystal. The theory is then used to evaluate the angular dependence of the linewidths and this is compared with the dependence predicted by the approximate theory, for two classes of nitroxide spin probes. These comparisons reveal that for steroidal spin probes the error, introduced by assuming the nuclear spin to be quantized along the field, is confined to the dynamic properties derived from the linewidths. In contrast, significant errors appear in both the dynamic and static properties obtained from an analysis of the linewidth variations for fatty acid spin probes based on the approximate theory. It would seem that the exact theory must be employed to obtain precise information from linewidth investigations of liquid crystals, except when the orientational order is extremely small.

Light propagation mechanism switching in a liquid crystal infiltrated microstructured polymer optical fibre

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Rutkowska ◽  
K. Milenko ◽  
O. Chojnowska ◽  
R. Dąbrowski ◽  
T.R. Woliński
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Optical Fibre ◽  
Total Internal Reflection ◽  
Light Propagation ◽  
Propagation Mechanism ◽  
External Temperature ◽  
Air Channels ◽  
Propagation Properties ◽  
Infiltration Method ◽  
Light Guidance

AbstractIn this work studies on propagation properties of a microstructured polymer optical fibre infiltrated with a nematic liquid crystal are presented. Specifically, the influence of an infiltration method on the LC molecular alignment inside fibre air-channels and, thus, on light guidance is discussed. Switching between propagation mechanisms, namely the transition from modified total internal reflection (mTIR) to the photonic bandgap effect obtained by varying external temperature is also demonstrated.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document