2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Nanostructure-induced stabilization of frustrated liquid crystal phases
| Project/Area Number |
24656015
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Applied materials science/Crystal engineering
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| Research Institution | Osaka University |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA HIROYUKI 大阪大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (80550045)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
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| Keywords | 液晶 / フラストレート相 / 光重合 |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to induce an artificial frustrated phase by the use of nano-scale structures. Polymer structures imitating the structure of a cholesteric blue phase liquid crystal were fabricated by direct laser lithography and in-situ photo-polymerization. In-situ photo-polymerization was found to be effective in producing orthorhombic or tetragonal nanostructures; three-dimensionally structured liquid crystal phases reflecting these symmetries were stabilized at room temperature for the first time. Furthermore, measurements of the electro-optic Kerr coefficients revealed a linear correlation between the Kerr coefficient and the lattice size perpendicular to the direction of electric field, an insight which should be useful for the future development of materials with high Kerr coefficients.
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