Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: smectic-A to smectic-C; nematic to smectic-A; isotropic-nematic; phase transition; quenched random disorder; liquid crystal; gel structure; turbidity; gel dynamics; x-ray intensity fluctuation spectroscopy ( XIFS ); ac-calorimetry; x-ray diffraction Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-218).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Bredas, Jean-Luc, Committee Member ; Kippelen, Bernard, Committee Member ; Marder, Seth, Committee Chair ; Bunz, Uwe, Committee Member ; Perry, Joseph, Committee Member.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-115). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-113). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic version.

No description available.

This thesis describes work to create a variety of thin-film photonic devices based upon liquid crystalline materials. Firstly, a variety of liquid crystal phases are polymer- templated by combining a liquid crystalline material with photo-polymerisable reactive mesogens. Upon photo-curing, a polymer scaffold, which is a template of the original phase, is formed with liquid crystal molecules in interstitial sites. This liquid crystal is removed to yield a polymer scaffold which can be used to template the original phase. Here, polymer-templating is used to template the smectic A liquid crystal alignment onto nematic liquid crystals for the first time; this results in materials with improved contrast ratios and faster response times than conventional nematic devices. Next, a study is performed to compare the electro-optic properties of polymer-templated and polymer-stabilised chiral nematic liquid crystals. The enhanced tuning range of polymer-templated liquid crystals is applied to create a polymer-templated liquid crystal laser and to electrically tune its emission wavelength. Subsequently, thin-film elastomeric liquid crystal lasers are created. The lasing wavelength of these films can be reversibly and selectively tuned without hysteresis by subjecting them to a mechanical stress. Finally, work is performed to study the potential of inorganic materials for use in liquid crystal lasers. Transition metal clustomesogens (liquid crystalline materials that contain highly emissive molybdenum clusters) and inorganic-organic perovskites are considered here. The dispersal and emissive properties of clustomesogens in liquid crystals are studied, and they are used to create circularly polarised light sources with a polarisation that can be controlled using electric fields. Layered structures of inorganic- organic perovskite and liquid crystal are created; these exhibit enhanced amplified spontaneous emission. Then, perovskites are used as the gain materials in distributed feedback lasers for the first time. These lasers may be wavelength-tuned by varying the grating spacing of the structure.

Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The existence of a thermotropic biaxial nematic liquid crystal phase has been a topic of great interest for almost half a century. Of the various mesogenic shapes suggested as being able to form this phase, theory has suggested that the V-shaped or "bent-core" molecule is one of the most promising candidates. In this thesis we use a simple mesogenic model of a bent-core molecule, constructed from a number of repulsive Weeks-Chandler-Andersen potentials that are assembled into a rigid V shape. Using this model we explore the spontaneous phase behaviour that occurs in a wide array of different systems of mesogens, using molecular dynamics simulations and isotropic initial conditions. We study the relationship between molecular bend angle and phase behavior for molecules constructed from 11 potentials. We find that the phase behaviour splits into two regions, above and below a critical bend angle. Molecules wider than this angle exhibit isotropic, uniaxial nematic and smectic A phases. Narrower molecules show no uniaxially aligned phases, and instead have a clustered phase with short-range ordering and no global alignment director. Increasing system size improves the smectic layering in the wider molecules, but does not affect the global alignment of the narrower molecules. Our model is extended to include the effect of the arm length of the molecule by changing the number of potentials from which the mesogens are constructed. As the molecule is reduced in size, the critical bend angle is seen to move slowly towards more linear molecules, reducing the size of the parameter space in which uniaxial nematic alignment is possible. At 5 beads, all mesophases are seen to disappear and systems remain isotropic. We also study the behaviour of binary mixtures of bent-core molecules, both of differing arm lengths and of differing bend angles. For arm length mixtures, molecules are seen to remain mixed in the isotropic and nematic phases, and phase separate on transition to a smectic phase. In addition, uniaxial nematic phases are induced in systems that have no nematic phase of their own in isolation. For mixtures of different bend angles, systems remain fully mixed in the smectic phases for differences of up to 10 degrees, and beyond this the two components begin to separate at the nematic–smectic transition.

The initial aim of the work presented in this thesis was to examine smectic layer compressibility with a view to improving our understanding of the stability of intermediate phases. A natural starting point was to investigate the smectic-A phase, as it is the most basic of the smectic phases. The response of the layered structure to external fields is also a focus of this thesis as electric and magnetic fields enable the layer properties to be probed. Investigations into the reorientation dynamics of smectic-A layers in magnetic fields were performed using geometries and cell thicknesses (>50 μm) that are not feasible using electric fields. Data presented in this thesis show that three distinct reorientation mechanisms can occur, one of which is previously unreported and bridges the gap between the previously known mechanisms. The new mechanism observed in 270 μm and 340 μm thickness cells exhibits multiple stage reorientation on a timescale between tens and hundreds of seconds. Using conventional electro-optic techniques combined with a theoretical approach developed by others, this thesis presents a new technique to provide measurement of relative smectic layer compressibility of eight smectic-A liquid crystalline materials. The method presented here combines data on cell thickness, dielectric anisotropy and the measurement of the voltage threshold of the toroidal to stripe domain transition. As expected, the experimental data indicated that materials with shorter molecular lengths had the largest relative layer compressibility. Finally, direct measurement of smectic layer compressibility was investigated and the design of an apparatus capable of such measurements was undertaken. Preliminary results from such an apparatus are presented along with a discussion on the steps taken to develop the design.