New Forms of Chirality in Liquid Crystals: Design of Frustrated and Cooperative Systems

这个探索性研究项目的选定基金将集中于具有不寻常手性和形状的液晶的合成和研究。使用手性侧链和分子形状将检查创建系统，有两个相反的组织偏好。这种竞争将带来挫折，并期望这些材料将产生有趣的情况，并产生新的相和特性。在其他体系中，手性和分子形状之间的相互作用可能是比较的。相的类型包括具有NLO性质的极性片层结构、用于显示应用的双轴向列线和手性柱状相。在电场作用下，柱状相表现出不同程度的手性，可用于制作电光调制器。液晶对电场的响应是所有液晶显示器（lcd）的核心。这项工作旨在产生具有手性或手感的扩展组织的新型液晶。这些新的液晶材料将产生平面偏振光的旋转，预计在它们与电场的相互作用下会发生改变。通过竞争和对立的相互作用引入的新阶段也被设想。这些新相位以及材料与电场的相互作用有可能产生一类新的光开关材料。＊＊＊

9811377 Swager This Selected Grant for Exploratory Research project will focus on the synthesis and investigation of liquid crystals with unusual forms of chirality and shape. The use of chiral sidechains and molecular shape will be examined to create systems that have two opposing organizational preferences. This competition will provide frustration, and it is expected that these materials will produce interesting situations and give rise to novel phases and properties. In other systems, the interactions between the chirality and the molecular shape may be comparative. Illustrations of the types of phases include polar lamellar structures with NLO properties, biaxial nematics for display applications, and chiral columnar phases. The columnar phases should display different degrees of chirality with the application of electric fields, which may be used to produce electro-optical modulators. %%% The response of liquid crystals to electric fields is at the heart of all Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs). This work seeks to generate new types of liquid crystals with extended organizations that have a chiral or handed sense. These new liquid crystal materials will produce a rotation of plane polarized light that is expected to be altered upon their interaction with an electric field. New phases introduced by competing and opposing interactions are also envisioned. These new phases as well as the interaction of the materials with electric fields have the potential to produce a new class of optical switching materials. ***