Articles tagged with Liquid Crystals
Researchers at Tohoku University discovered that antiferromagnets can exhibit a liquid-crystal state under an electric current, directly detectable as an electrical resistance change. This phenomenon has the potential to provide qualitatively new device functions.
Scientists create a porous silica microrod material that can form dense dispersions in nematic liquid crystals, overcoming the challenge of strong surface anchoring. This enables the reconfigurable self-assembly of micrometer-sized particles, opening up new possibilities for optical and biomedical applications.
Researchers at the Flatiron Institute and their collaborators applied an active liquid crystal theory to understand how chromosomes are separated during cell division. The study found that the theory largely succeeds in predicting how spindles self-organize, using a combination of light microscopy and electron microscopy data.
Researchers created particle-like vortex knots in chiral nematic liquid crystals and discovered they can be reversibly switched between different knotted forms using electric pulses. The study provides a physical testbed for mathematical ideas, opening possible new routes toward knot-based electro-optic and photonic technologies.
Scientists have developed a new approach to analyzing polarization data, offering a more accurate understanding of complex materials. The elliptical vectorial metrics model simplifies the interpretation of polarization information, improving biomedical imaging and material design.
Researchers have developed a novel way for liquid crystals to retain information about their movement, enabling the creation of smart and flexible materials. The breakthrough could lead to advancements in memory devices, sensors, and new types of physics.
A new study maps the internal behavior of soft materials when deformed, revealing localized fracture events and heterogeneous flows. The findings challenge long-standing assumptions and provide valuable insights for improving manufacturing techniques.
The researchers created a novel method for using cholesteric liquid crystals in optical microcavities, enabling the formation and dynamic tuning of photonic crystals. This breakthrough research has the potential to revolutionize photonic engineering by opening up new perspectives in the manipulation of light.
Scientists at Rice University develop a new method to align boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in water using a common surfactant, creating ordered liquid crystalline phases. The discovery enables the production of transparent, robust films ideal for thermal management and structural reinforcement applications.
The Rice University team created a soft robotic arm capable of performing complex tasks using smart materials, machine learning, and an optical control system. The arm is guided and powered remotely by laser beams without any onboard electronics or wiring.
Researchers at Zhejiang University developed a novel 3D-printed hydrogel that can easily switch its Young's modulus from kPa to GPa through on-demand crystallization. The hydrogel exhibits a hardness of 86.5 Shore D and a Young's modulus of 1.2 GPa, surpassing current 3D-printed hydrogels.
Researchers discovered that trapped pockets of liquid can form inside ice, leading to extreme pressure that breaks glass. To prevent this, ensure water freezes slowly by supercooling or use containers with water-repelling surfaces.
A research team at POSTECH developed a synthesis method that precisely controls the size and shape of perovskite nanocrystals using liquid crystalline antisolvents. The method produces uniformly sized particles without additional purification processes, accelerating commercialization of optoelectronic devices.
Researchers synthesized optically active conducting polymers through physical methods using liquid crystals as solvents, achieving asymmetric (chiral) living polymerization. The resulting polyisocyanides exhibited optical activity and properties of twisted-bend nematic liquid crystal.
Researchers developed a multi-twist structure for liquid crystal polarization-based optics, achieving achromatic Pacharatnam-Berry phase optical elements. This innovation mitigates chromatic aberration in AR/VR displays and imaging technologies, offering high-performance solutions with enhanced compactness and efficiency.
A new smart window technology combines liquid crystals with nanoporous microparticles and a patterned vanadium dioxide layer to simultaneously control visible light and infrared radiation. The device offers fast, efficient heat and visibility management, marking a significant step forward in energy-efficient building design.
Scientists have found ultra-low lattice thermal conductivity in the ordered crystal CsAg5Te3 due to weak chemical bonding and strong phonon anharmonicity. The material exhibits liquid-like phonon transport behavior, enabling it as a promising candidate for thermoelectric applications.
Nearly 50 ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads splashed down safely on SpaceX’s CRS-31 mission, including research for early cancer detection and neurodegenerative conditions treatments. The investigations leveraged the space station's unique environment to improve life on Earth.
Researchers have developed a new method for producing one class of 2D material and supercharging its magnetic properties. By applying liquid phase exfoliation and chemical treatment, they were able to increase the material's coercivity by five-fold, making it more suitable for applications such as spin filtering, electromagnetic shield...
Researchers have created a versatile shape-changing polymer that can twist, tilt, shrink, and expand, mimicking animal movements. The polymer's unique properties make it useful for creating soft robots or artificial muscles, with potential applications in medicine and other fields.
Researchers have uncovered key insights about how liquid crystals transform between different phases using direct simulation and machine learning. This study provides a clearer understanding of the microscopic-level changes in these materials, which could lead to new possibilities for advanced materials development.
A new study by Nagoya University researchers reveals a complex relationship between Arctic warming and Arctic dust. Higher temperatures lead to increased dust emissions, promoting ice nucleation in clouds and potentially counteracting temperature feedback mechanisms.
Researchers developed a light-driven, toroidal micro-robot that can navigate complex environments like medicine and environmental monitoring. The innovation uses liquid crystalline elastomer to overcome viscous forces and enables autonomous movement in low Reynolds number regimes.
Bifocal lenses with adjustable focal intensities are created by applying external voltage to bilayer liquid crystal structures. The new design enables polarization imaging and edge imaging, highlighting the outlines of objects with fine details.
Researchers discovered liquid crystals can form complex structures, including filaments and discs, similar to biological systems. These findings may lead to self-assembling materials and new ways to model cellular activity.
Aston University researcher has developed a new method of analysing crystals in dehydrated blood samples using polarisation-based image reconstruction technique. The technique showed a 90% accuracy rate for early diagnosis and classification of cancer, making it less traumatic and risky for patients.
Researchers at Nagoya University developed a new type of label that uses fluorescent dyes to create uncrackable coded tags. These labels produce unique visual patterns that are difficult to replicate without specialized tools and knowledge.
Scientists have developed a method to simulate gravitational waves in the lab using cold atoms, a phenomenon similar to gravitational waves. This breakthrough allows for easier study and understanding of these cosmic waves, which are challenging to detect.
Researchers developed a novel tunable ultrasonic liquid crystal light diffuser that allows changing the diffusion direction. The device uses non-coaxial resonant flexural vibration to control molecular orientation and refractive-index distribution, resulting in controlled light distribution.
The NTU team created a compact and flexible light-based sensing device, like a plaster, to provide highly accurate biomarker readings within minutes. The device detects glucose, lactate, and urea levels in sweat with ultra-high sensitivity and dynamic range.
Researchers have discovered that gallium's bonds disappear at melting point but reappear at higher temperatures, leading to a new explanation for its low melting point. This breakthrough has important implications for advances in nanotechnology and materials science.
Scientists have demonstrated spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a liquid crystal, creating entangled photon pairs with high efficiency. The discovery enables flexible and electric-field-tunable quantum light sources.
Scientists have developed a new approach to designing materials with useful electronic and optical properties. By stacking antiaromatic units using van der Waals interactions, researchers created highly conductive liquid crystals. This breakthrough could lead to advances in organic electronics, optoelectronics, and sensing devices.
Researchers create diamond film at 1 atm pressure and 1025°C using a novel liquid metal alloy, breaking the high-pressure requirement. The synthesized diamond has a high purity and unique silicon-vacancy color centers, opening new avenues for applications in magnetic sensing and quantum computing.
The team created ten holograms with varying colors and shapes using an inverse design technique driven by artificial intelligence. They integrated an oblique helicoidal cholesterics-based wavelength modulator to accurately implement the designed holograms, enabling the establishment of an optical security system.
Physicists at Princeton University have successfully visualized the Wigner crystal, a quantum phase of matter composed of electron crystals. The team used a scanning tunneling microscope to directly image the crystal, confirming its properties and enabling further study.
Researchers at UNIST have unveiled a new principle of motion in liquid crystals, where objects can move in a directed manner by changing their sizes periodically. The discovery has far-reaching implications for the development of miniature robots and advances research in complex fluids.
Researchers at UNIST have developed a groundbreaking technology that enables the real-time display of colors and shapes through changes in nanostructures. Utilizing block copolymers, they achieved the self-assembly of photonic crystal structures on a large scale, mimicking natural phenomena observed in butterfly wings and bird feathers.
Researchers propose a new theory explaining how some white dwarfs remain hot for billions of years, contradicting the standard picture of cooling. The theory suggests buoyant crystals form in the star's interior, disrupting its cooling process and releasing gravitational energy.
A new method allows for the manipulation of liquid crystal alignment in three dimensions using light exposure, enabling the creation of programmable tools such as shapeshifting robots and adaptive camera lenses. This breakthrough could lead to significant advancements in robotics and imaging technology.
Researchers have developed a new way to control and manipulate optical signals by embedding a liquid crystal layer into waveguides created with direct laser writing. The new devices enable electro-optical control of polarization, which could open new possibilities for chip-based devices and complex photonic circuits.
The team developed helical, magnetically active conductive polymers inspired by cyclosporine A, exhibiting unprecedented electron spin activity and anisotropy. The synthesized polymer demonstrated circularly polarized electron spin resonance in the microwave region.
Chemical simulations can be sped up by resetting them, a new study from Tel Aviv University found. This technique, called stochastic resetting, overcomes the timescale problem, allowing for more accurate predictions of slow processes.
Researchers propose a novel multi-dimensional multiplexing optical secret sharing framework using cascaded liquid crystal holograms. The framework enhances security by utilizing polarization state and distance between holograms as decryption keys, allowing ultra-secure transmission of multiple channels.
University of Houston researcher Peter Vekilov discovers two-step incorporation into crystals, mediated by an intermediate state, solving a 40-year-old riddle. The new paradigm guides the search for solvents and additives to stabilize the intermediate state and slow down unwanted polymorphs.
Researchers at Rice University have discovered a new material that exhibits both quantum correlations and geometric frustration, resulting in a unique flat band structure. This finding provides empirical evidence of the effect in a 3D material and has implications for understanding exotic features in materials science.
Researchers developed a cholesteric phase liquid crystal polymer (CLCP) visual sensing platform utilizing geometric phase coding for real-time visual patterns. The system generates image-based sensing signals through distinct visual patterns, offering an intuitive alternative to conventional methods.
A team of scientists developed a color liquid crystal grating based 3D display system with a large viewing angle, eliminating chromatic aberration. The proposed system enables vivid reconstruction of 3D color objects without limitations.
Researchers at MIT find that slow-flowing liquid crystals can spontaneously assemble into large, twisted, chiral structures, opening a new path to generating chiral materials. These structures could serve as spiral scaffolds for assembling intricate molecular structures and be used as optical sensors.
Researchers have developed twisted ringbots that can roll forward, spin like a record, and follow an orbital path around a central point. These devices can navigate and map unknown environments without human or computer control.
Researchers have developed a new approach to creating liquid-crystal phase modulators that are polarization-independent and can achieve large phase depths. The devices use a light-controlled azimuth angle (LCAA) process to create multi-microdomain, orthogonally twisted structures with precise alignment.
A Vienna University of Technology team successfully changed the type of magnetism in a single crystal by applying pressure, reducing frustration and increasing temperature of magnetic phase transition. This discovery could lead to novel materials for secure data storage and quantum computers.
Researchers at IISc create a novel technique to coat droplets in composite shells containing oil-loving and hydrophobic particles. This method offers flexible shell thickness control over a wide range, enabling the encapsulation of droplets with different sizes.
Researchers have directly observed a magnetic analog of liquid crystal, known as the 'spin-nematic phase', in a quantum spin system. This discovery was made possible by advancements in synchrotron facility development and has significant implications for quantum computing and information technologies.
The team created an ultraclean transfer process using a hybrid stamp, resulting in atomically clean interfaces and minimal strain. This breakthrough enables the commercialization of 2D material-based electronic devices with novel hybrid properties.
Scientists at Lancaster University have discovered that superfluid helium-3 behaves like a two-dimensional system when probed with mechanical resonators. This finding has significant implications for our understanding of superfluidity and its potential applications in various fields.
Advances in VR display technology have overcome the 'screen door effect' by introducing 2117 PPI LCDs with high partition mini LED backlighting. This enhances contrast, color accuracy, and viewing angles, making VR experiences more immersive.
Researchers developed a simple, one-step method for creating large-area liquid crystal microlens arrays (LC-MLAs) with high focusing quality. The LC-MLAs demonstrate polarization-dependent, electrically tunable properties, allowing for adjustable focal length and image depth control.
Scientists have probed electron dynamics in liquids using intense laser fields, retrieving the electron's mean free path and gaining a deeper understanding of ultrafast processes. The research opens up new avenues for studying liquids and their role in chemical reactions.
Researchers have developed high-resolution near-eye displays with integrated light field technology, overcoming limitations of earlier displays. The new designs feature improved resolution, pixel density, and vision correction capabilities, resulting in enhanced visual comfort and immersive VR experiences.