CAREER: Electrically- and Optically-Controlled Self-Assembly in Liquid Crystals

提案0847782，职业生涯：液晶中的电光控制自组装，助理，伊万·I·斯马留克，大学物理学教授。科罗拉多州博尔德技术研究所将在液晶(LC)物理、纳米科学和光子学的界面上进行跨学科研究，重点是液晶复合材料中自组装的基础和应用方面。他试图找出分散在液晶中间相中的纳米和微米颗粒自组织背后的组织原理，从经典的热致向列相到由弯曲核心分子组成的新相，再到由DNA和活细菌形成的相。PI将确定浸入液晶中的纳米和微米颗粒周围的导向器结构如何依赖于颗粒S的形状、大小、表面处理、液晶中间相的类型和外加电场。他将使用拓扑缺陷、液晶蓝相中的纳米级周期性缺陷阵列和强烈扭曲的指向矢结构来构建粒子的空间图案。LC？S对外场、表面处理、温度和光线的敏感性将使人们能够前所未有地控制形成的各种形状和化学成分的分子和包裹体的自组装结构。为了解决这类问题，PI将利用从纳米晶体到活细菌的可荧光检测的纳米和微米颗粒，以便使用荧光共聚焦成像来揭示它们在LC样品中的空间定位和排列。为了深入了解自组装背后的物理现象，光学成像和激光操纵将与冷冻断裂透射电子显微镜和同步X射线微束衍射协同结合，从而了解从纳米到几十微米长度尺度的分级自组装结构。这些基本现象将在更广泛的背景下进行研究，从开发基于自组装的可调光学超材料到了解生物膜中细菌-细胞外基质的相互作用。这项工作将推进复杂流体中自组装的知识，并将影响到各种领域，如纳米级相互作用和随之而来的集体行为、新型显示技术、使用廉价有机太阳能电池将太阳能高效转化为电能、超材料制造和细菌生物膜。PI IS将把建议的研究项目整合到广泛的教育和推广活动中。非技术概述：PI正在研究纳米粒子和分子自组装的组织原理，使其成为液晶中精确控制的结构。对此有基本的理解？聪明？组装将揭示细胞和分子层面的生物组织，并将使开发具有广角光束转向、将太阳能高效转化为电能以及柔性显示器和数据存储设备等对社会重要的实用设备所需的独特性能的新型电控和光控材料成为可能。PI将把这项研究整合到教育和推广项目中，包括？光、颜色和物质？在小学和中学的巫师表演，为高中生提供科学之旅，为专业学会的学生分会提供建议，为少数族裔服务机构的学生和教职员工提供研究经验，并帮助他们确定他们的教育和研究目标，教学？液晶：从基础到应用？会议液晶行业短期课程，参与SPIE客座讲师计划，在全球范围内举办公开讲座，组织国际会议和洲际先进材料与光子学(i-Camp)暑期学校。I-Camp暑期学校的讲座将进行实时网络直播，然后转化为基于网络的视频档案和互动教程。此外，这些暑期学校将与学生和博士后研究员的外联论坛和职业发展方案相结合，并将吸引代表人数不足的少数族裔参与者。

Proposal 0847782, CAREER: Electrically- & optically-controlled self-assembly in liquid crystals Ivan I. Smalyukh, Asst. Professor of Physics, Univ. of Colorado at BoulderTECHNICAL SUMMARY:The PI will conduct interdisciplinary research at the interfaces of liquid crystal (LC) physics, nanoscience, and photonics, focusing on fundamental and applied aspects of self-assembly in LC composite materials. He seeks to identify the organizing principles behind self-organization of nano- and micro-sized particles dispersed in LC mesophases ranging from the classical thermotropic nematic to the novel phases composed of bent-core molecules, and to those formed by DNA and live bacteria. PI will establish how director structures around nano- and micro-sized particles immersed in LCs depend on particle?s shape, size, surface treatment, type of the LC mesophase, and applied external fields. He will use topological defects, nano-scale periodic defect arrays in LC blue phases, and strongly-distorted director structures for spatial patterning of particles. LC?s sensitivity to external fields, surface treatment, temperature, and light will enable unprecedented degrees of control over formed self-assembled structures of molecules and inclusions of various shapes and chemical composition. In order to engage this class of problems, the PI will utilize fluorescence-detectable nano- and micro-sized particles ranging from nanocrystals to live bacteria, so that their spatial localization and alignment in the LC samples can be revealed using fluorescence confocal imaging. To get insights into the physics phenomena behind the self-assembly, optical imaging and laser manipulation will be combined synergistically with freeze fracture transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron x-ray micro-beam diffraction, so that the hierarchical self-assembly structures from nanometer to tens of microns length scales can be known. The fundamental phenomena will be examined in the broader contexts ranging from development of self-assembly-based tunable optical metamaterials to understanding bacteria-extracellular matrix interactions in biofilms. This work will advance knowledge of self-assembly in complex fluids and will impinge on fields as diverse as nano-scale interactions and ensuing collective behavior, novel display technologies, efficient conversion of solar energy to electricity using inexpensive organic solar cells, metamaterial fabrication, and bacterial biofilms. PI is will integrate the proposed research projects into a broad range of education and outreach activities.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:PI is researching organizing principles of nanoparticle and molecular self-assembly into precisely controlled structures in liquid crystals. Fundamental understanding of this ?smart? assembly will shed light on biological organization at the cellular and molecular levels and will enable development of new electrically- and optically-controlled materials with unique properties needed for wide-angle beam steering, efficient conversion of solar energy into electricity, and for practical devices of importance to society, such as flexible displays and data storage devices. PI will integrate this research into educational and outreach programs, including ?Light, Color, & Matter? Wizard Shows in elementary and secondary schools, Science Tours for high school students, advising student chapters of professional societies, providing research experiences for students and faculty from minority-serving institutions and helping them to define their educational and research goals, teaching ?Liquid Crystals: From Fundamentals to Applications? conference short courses for liquid crystal industry, participating in the SPIE visiting lecturer program by giving public lectures worldwide, and organizing international conferences and inter-continental advanced materials and photonics (I-CAMP) summer schools. Lectures of the I-CAMP summer schools will be webcast in real time and then transformed into web-based video archives and interactive tutorials. Moreover, these summer schools will be integrated with outreach forums and career development programs for students and postdoctoral fellows and will attract underrepresented minority participants.