Optical Microscopic Studies of Electric-Field-Induced Dynamics in Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystals: Confinement and Interfacial Effects

州立大学堪萨斯的丹尼尔希金斯教授在材料研究部的分析和表面化学项目和固态化学的支持下，对聚合物分散液晶进行了高度空间分辨的实验。 这里研究的液晶小液滴从基础（涉及的新物理学）和实用（光学器件技术）的角度都很有趣。 这项工作旨在详细说明以前的研究中，近场光谱被用来产生一个本地的领域，以重新定位液晶分子。电场诱导的液晶重取向和离子产生，迁移和重组的动力学进行了研究，使用新的时间分辨形式的NSOM和多光子激发荧光显微镜。 将使用乳胶球产生的模板控制液滴大小。 由于液晶可应用于衍射光学、可切换全息图和光折变器件的新材料，因此对液晶新方面的研究尤为及时。 这项工作也与纳米技术和生物学上的重要影响有关。

Professor Daniel Higgins of Kansas State University is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program and Solid State Chemistry in the Division of Materials Research to perform highly spatially-resolved experiments on polymer dispersed liquid crystals. The tiny droplets of liquid crystals studied here are of interest from standpoints both fundamental (for the new physics involved) and practical (optical device technology). This work seeks to elaborate on previous studies in which near field spectroscopy was used to generate a local field to reorient molecules in the liquid crystal. The dynamics of electric-field induced liquid crystal reorientation and ion generation, migration and recombination are to be studied using new time-resolved forms of NSOM and multiphoton-excited fluorescence microscopy. Droplet sizes will be controlled using latex sphere-produced templates. Work on new aspects of liquid crystals is especially timely because of its applicability to new materials for diffractive optics, switchable holograms and photorefractive devices. The work is also related to nanotechnology and biologically important effects.