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Topological control of soft matter using novel nano-replication manufacturing

使用新型纳米复制制造对软物质进行拓扑控制

基本信息

批准号：
EP/S029214/1
负责人：
Cliff Jones
金额：
$ 133.34万
依托单位：
University of Leeds
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2020 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FS029214%2F1
关键词：
Topological control soft matter using

项目摘要

Liquid crystals (LC) are familiar to us all, through their use in the LC Displays (LCD) used in our phones and TVs. These self-assembling organic materials are used increasingly in a wide range of other applications, from smart windows to telecommunications, from Virtual Reality headsets to sensors. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest in using topological defects in liquid crystals, and their use to aid the self-assembly of colloidal particles added to the liquid crystal or micro-droplets of liquid crystal in dispersions. The applicant co-invented the Zenithal Bistable Display (ZBD), an LCD that stores the image by creation of topological defects at a surface-grating layer, thereby operating with ultra-low power. He founded the spin-out Displaydata to commercialise the technology and that company has grown to become a world leading supplier of graphic shelf-edge labels to the retail sector. With any electro-optic device, such as a display, it is important that the electric field is applied uniformly and without unnecessary losses. Although nano-imprint lithography is now a well-established technique, it is not ideally suited to electro-optic devices for these reasons. Previously, the investigator developed nano-embossing and selective adhesion methods to add gratings onto the inner surfaces of the ZBD LCD both uniformly and efficiently, transferring them to manufacturing production lines in the Far East. On moving to Leeds University with an EPSRC Manufacturing Fellowship designed to attract industrialists into academia, the applicant has set up a prototyping facility that includes these techniques, and has extended the processes to allow more complex surface structures with new functionalities to be made. These include making simple lenses using liquid crystals that operate with near 100% efficiency and without polarisers. We are all familiar with how dull a reflective watch LCD seems because more than half of the light is absorbed by polarisers either side. Polarisation dependence hinders the use of liquid crystals in many applications, but with the nano-embossing method there is a great potential to solve that problem. This project focusses on extending the physics and technology for these ideas, bringing these inventions to a level where the commercialisation process may begin, and cultivating them for other optical devices such as high efficiency switchable computer generated holograms or camera lenses, or creating bistable switchable lenses that operate with minimal power. As well as being an entrepreneurial physicist, the applicant has a wealth of new ideas that could be accelerated towards making practical devices, from fast electro-optic shutters, to low voltage smart windows using liquid crystal shells, and novel sensors and displays based on multi-faced Janus-particles that flip under an electric field. During the course of the Fellowship so far, he has applied his manufacturing and device expertise to creating switchable contact lenses for the correction of presbyopia, the poor eyesight that everyone over fifty suffers from. This led to his second spin-out company, Dynamic Vision Systems Ltd. With such a high success rate of making new inventions that are backed by ground-breaking research, the funding of this proposal has a high potential to lead to real wealth and job creation for the future, as well as generating new science and technology.

我们都很熟悉液晶（LC），因为它们在我们的手机和电视上使用的液晶显示器（LCD）中使用。这些自组装有机材料越来越多地用于其他广泛的应用，从智能窗户到电信，从虚拟现实耳机到传感器。在过去的十年中，人们对在液晶中使用拓扑缺陷，以及利用它们来帮助添加到液晶中的胶体颗粒或分散的液晶微液滴的自组装产生了极大的兴趣。申请人共同发明了Zenithal双稳态显示器（ZBD），这是一种通过在表面光栅层产生拓扑缺陷来存储图像的LCD，从而以超低功耗运行。他创立了分拆出来的Displaydata公司，将这项技术商业化，该公司已发展成为面向零售业的图形货架边缘标签的全球领先供应商。对于任何电光设备，如显示器，重要的是电场的均匀施加和没有不必要的损失。虽然纳米压印技术现在是一种成熟的技术，但由于这些原因，它并不理想地适合于电光器件。此前，研究人员开发了纳米压印和选择性粘附方法，以均匀有效地将光栅添加到ZBD LCD的内表面，并将其转移到远东的制造生产线。在获得EPSRC制造奖学金（旨在吸引实业家进入学术界）后，申请人已经建立了一个包括这些技术的原型设备，并扩展了流程，以允许制造具有新功能的更复杂的表面结构。其中包括使用液晶制造效率接近100%的简单透镜，而且不需要偏光片。我们都很熟悉反光手表的LCD看起来有多暗淡，因为一半以上的光都被偏光片吸收了。偏振依赖性在许多应用中阻碍了液晶的使用，但纳米压印方法有很大的潜力来解决这个问题。这个项目的重点是扩展这些想法的物理和技术，使这些发明达到商业化进程可能开始的水平，并将它们用于其他光学设备，如高效可切换的计算机生成全息图或相机镜头，或创造以最小功率运行的双稳态可切换镜头。作为一名具有创业精神的物理学家，申请人有丰富的新想法，可以加速制造实用设备，从快速电光百叶窗，到使用液晶壳的低压智能窗户，以及基于在电场下翻转的多面双面粒子的新型传感器和显示器。到目前为止，他已经将他的制造和设备专业知识应用于制造可切换的隐形眼镜，用于矫正老花眼，这是50岁以上的人都患有的视力差。这导致了他的第二个分拆公司，动态视觉系统有限公司。在突破性研究的支持下，新发明的成功率如此之高，这一提案的资助很有可能为未来带来真正的财富和创造就业机会，并产生新的科学技术。