This is a monograph/text devoted to a detailed treatment of the optical, electro-optical and nonlinear optical properties of all the mesophases of liquid crystals and related processes, phenomena and application principles. Quantitative data on material and optical parameters spanning the ultraviolet, visible, infrared as well as the microwave regimes are presented along with detailed theoretical treatments of basic liquid crystal physics, material properties and nonlinear optics.Starting with a discussion on the basic building blocks of liquid crystalline molecules, the authors proceed to present in a pedagogical manner current theories, experiments, and applications of these unique and important optical properties of liquid crystals. Numerous tables of hard-to-find liquid crystalline parameters, a self-contained chapter on general nonlinear optics, and comprehensive literature review are also included.
Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic Molecules and Crystals, Volume 1 discusses the nonlinear optical effects in organic molecules and crystals, providing a classical distinction between quadratic and cubic processes. This book begins with a general overview of the basic properties of organic matter, followed by a review on the benefits derived from quantum-chemistry-based models and growth and characterization of high quality, bulk organic crystals and waveguided structures. A case study focusing on a specific material, namely urea, which exemplifies a situation in which transparency in the UV region has been purposely traded for nonlinear efficiency is also deliberated. This text concludes with a description of a type of trade-off between the unpredictable orientation of molecules in crystalline media, polarity of liquid-crystalline structures, and dominant electronic contribution to the electro-optic effect. This publication is beneficial to solid-state physicists and chemists concerned with nonlinear optical properties of organic molecules and crystals.
This book on liquid crystals reports on the new perspectives that have been brought about by the recent expansion of frontiers and overhaul of common beliefs. First, it explores the interaction of light with mesophases, when the light or matter is endowed with topological defects. It goes on to show how electrophoresis, electro-osmosis and the swimming of flagellated bacteria are affected by the anisotropic properties of liquid crystals. It also reports on the recent progress in the understanding of thermomechanical and thermohydrodynamical effects in cholesterics and deformed nematics and refutes the common belief that these effects could explain Lehmann’s observations of the rotation of cholesteric droplets subjected to a temperature gradient. It then studies the physics of the dowser texture, which has remarkable properties. This is of particular interest in regards to nematic monopoles, which can easily be generated, set into motion and collided within it. Finally, this book deals with the spontaneous emergence of chirality in nematics made of achiral molecules, and provides a brief historical context of chirality
The latest edition of the leading resource on the properties and applications of liquid crystals In the newly revised Third Edition of Liquid Crystals, Professor Iam Choon Khoo delivers a comprehensive treatment of the fundamentals and applied aspects of optical physics, light scattering, electro-optics, and non-linear optics of liquid crystals. The book's opening chapters include coverage of the foundational physics and optical properties of liquid crystals and lead to more advanced content on the display, photonics and nonlinear optics applications of liquid crystals. New topics, including photonic crystals, metamaterials, ultrafast nonlinear optics, and fabrication methods for massive cholesteric and blue phase liquid crystals are discussed at length. Analytical methods and experimental observations of nonlinear light propagation through liquid crystalline and anisotropic materials and devices are also discussed. Liquid Crystals offers an insightful and unique treatment of the nonlinear optics of liquid crystals. New and expanded sections round out this new edition and add to the most up-to-date resource on this topic available today. The book also includes: A thorough introduction to liquid crystals, including their molecular structures, chemical compositions, order parameter, phase transition, and free energies Practical discussions of nematic, cholesteric, smectic, and ferroelectric liquid crystals, and explorations of linear and nonlinear light scattering in these phases. A detailed quantum mechanical treatment of the linear and nonlinear electronic optical response of liquid crystal molecules to optical fields. A self-contained discussion of the fundamentals of nonlinear optics/photonics and comprehensive review of all liquid crystalline materials-based nonlinear optical processes and applications. The latest edition of Liquid Crystals is an indispensable resource for graduate students, professors, research scientists and engineers in industrial or government laboratories. It's also an ideal reference for anyone seeking a one-stop textbook with complete coverage of the optical, electro-optical, and non-linear optical properties and processes of liquid crystals.
Nonlinear Optics probes in great depth quadratic and cubic nonlinearities, photorefractive nonlinear optics, the nonlinear optical properties of nematic liquid crystals, and photonic bandgap structures. This reference places core physical principles and theoretical concepts in dialogue with contemporary applications and research and presents
This monograph is devoted to a detailed treatment of the nonlinear optical properties of liquid crystals. The basic concepts of director optical reorientation and thermal nonlinearities are presented showing the fundamental theoretical approaches and describing the main experimental observations. The presentation is self-consistent and tutorial although the subject matter is of current research interest.The last part of the book deals with more recent results on new composite materials: Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals (PDLC). A general presentation of the optical properties is given and the observations of several nonlinear optical effects are reported.
Polarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers deals with the linear optics of birefringent materials, such as liquid crystals and polymers, and surveys light propagation in such media with special attention to applications. It is unique in treating light propagation in micro- and nanostructured birefringent optical elements, such as lenses and gratings composed of birefringent materials, as well as the spatial varying anisotropic structures often found in miniaturized liquid crystal devices.
This work is based on lectures delivered at the "summer school" held in October 1988. Papers deal with microscopic properties, collective phenomena (elastic properties, hydrodynamics, linear and nonlinear optics . . . ), and such diverse topics as NMR studies of liquid crystals, orientational disorder and dynamics, rheology of layered liquid crystals, light scattering. Minimal index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Nonlinear optics is a topic of much current interest that exhibits a great diversity. Some publications on the subject are clearly physics, while others reveal an engineering bias; some appear to be accessible to the chemist, while others may appeal to biological understanding. Yet all purport to be non linear optics so where is the underlying unity? The answer is that the unity lies in the phenomena and the devices that exploit them, while the diversity lies in the materials used to express the phenomena. This book is an attempt to show this unity in diversity by bringing together contributions covering an unusually wide range of materials, preceded by accounts of the main phenomena and important devices. Because ofthe diversity, individual materials are treated in separate chapters by different expert authors, while as editors we have shouldered the task of providing the unifying initial chapters. Most main classes of nonlinear optical solids are treated: semiconductors, glasses, ferroelectrics, molecular crystals, polymers, and Langmuir-Blodgett films. (However, liquid crystals are not covered. ) Each class of material is enough for a monograph in itself, and this book is designed to be an introduction suitable for graduate students and those in industry entering the area of nonlinear optics. It is also suitable in parts for final-year undergraduates on project work. It aims to provide a bridge between traditional fields of expertise and the broader field of nonlinear optics.
In 1988 physicists and chemists commemorated the centenary of the discovery of the first liquid crystals. Fora long period after this discovery, although many significant results were found, liquid crystal research remained a marginal topic of condensed matter physics. The situation changed in the sixties. At that time the remarkable electro-optical properties of liquid crystals were recognized and found soon widespread application in numeric displays. From a more fundamental point of view, the interest in disordered systems. increased in general at the same time. Liquid crystals represented an important dass of such systems. Among others, phase transitions, hydrodynamics and topological defects occurring in them attracted considerable attention. The connection between the liquid-crystalline state and the structure of biological membranes stimulated a Iot of works also. In the present volume we discuss a relatively new and rapidly developing branch of the fi. eld, namely nonlinear optical effects in liquid crystals. Optical studies have always played a signifi. cant role in liquid crystal science. Research of optical nonlinearities in liquid crystals began at the end of the sixties. Since then it became a powerful tool in the investigation of symmetry properties, interfacial phenomena or dynamic behaviour. Furthermore, several new aspects of nonlinear processes were demonstrated and studied extensively in liquid crystals. The subject covered in this book is therefore of importance both for liquid crystal research and for nonlinear optics itself. The term "nonlinear optics" is used here in a broad sense.
