Simulation-based Engineering of Micro/Nanoscale Liquid Crystal Devices

液晶(LCS)是一类令人着迷的材料，它像液体一样流动，同时也具有类似晶体的性质(例如，石墨)。令人惊讶的是，LCD在你的日常生活中无处不在……你很可能是在一个基于液晶的显示器上阅读这篇文章，一个LCD！在过去的几十年里，LCD的改进极大地改善了我们的日常生活；如果没有基于LC的技术，我们就不会有大多数便携式电子产品，如笔记本电脑和手机。目前的LCD技术只是LCS的一种可能的应用，它依赖于最简单的一类LCS，即“向列学”。还有许多更复杂的LCD类型尚未在技术上使用，并包括在本研究计划中。

Liquid crystals (LCs) are a fascinating class of materials which paradoxically flow like liquids while also possessing crystal-like qualities (e.g., graphite). Surprisingly, LCs are pervasive in your daily life...you are most likely reading this text on a liquid crystal-based display, an LCD! The refinement of LCDs over the last few decades has substantially improved our daily lives; without LC-based technology, we would not have most portable electronics such as laptops and cellphones. Current LCD technology is only one possible application of LCs, relying on the most simple class of them known as "nematics." There are many, more complex, types of LCs which have not yet been used technologically and are included in this research program.