Alignment of liquid crystals is essential to a variety of devices and materials properties.\u00a0 First order phase transitions to highly ordered phases (such as the first order phase transition from the nematic to smectic C phase) often result in poor alignment.\u00a0 This project will examine theoretically and experimentally the possibility that regular, ordered nucleation sites for the more ordered phase will allow for formation of well-aligned liquid crystal phases.\u00a0 This work is expected to consist first of understanding nucleation theory and then hypothesizing theoretically the nature of the nucleation droplet for the smectic C phase in a nematic liquid crystal.\u00a0\u00a0 The possibility of using photolithography or locally varying rubbing to promote such nucleation sites and so to promote uniform alignment of the liquid crystal will then be studied theoretically and experimentally.\u00a0 The experimental work will be done in Chuck Rosenblatt’s lab under the supervision of Rolfe Petschek.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brandon Miller with Rolfe PetschekLiquid Crystal Alignment Properties<\/p>\n Alignment of liquid crystals is essential to a variety of devices and materials properties.\u00a0 First order phase transitions to highly ordered phases (such as the first order phase transition from the nematic to smectic C phase) often result in poor alignment.\u00a0 This project will examine theoretically and experimentally the possibility that regular, ordered nucleation sites for the more ordered phase will allow for formation of well-aligned liquid crystal phases.\u00a0 This work is expected to consist first of understanding nucleation theory and then hypothesizing theoretically the nature of the nucleation droplet for the smectic C phase in a nematic liquid crystal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n