Showing Spotlights 9 - 16 of 44 in category All (newest first):
Both display and non-display applications of liquid crystals rely on advanced liquid crystal materials. Liquid crystal materials with new functionalities can be produced by dispersing nanomaterials in liquid crystals, resulting in a mixture of nano-dopants and liquid crystals. These novel, nanotechnology-based materials very often exhibit unusual properties. For that reason, nanomaterials in liquid crystals are a hot topic of contemporary liquid crystal research and many research teams around the world carry out basic research in this field.
Mar 4th, 2020
Researchers have developed numerous applications with structural colors, among them the creation of sophisticated security features for anti-counterfeiting. Covert polarization displays, for instance, provide a barrier to the inadvertent viewing of encrypted optical information without compromising packaging aesthetics. To break through the flexibility/scalability limitation of existing systems, researchers have now developed a large-area covert polarization display technology by using ultrathin lossy nanocolumns deposited on a metal film. This clever strategy for switching covert optical information uses polarization-dependent multicolors without structurally sophisticated fabrication processes.
Jan 10th, 2020
Researchers report an interesting phenomenon of two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)-induced planar-alignment of a nematic liquid crystal and the subsequent optical and electro-optical effects. Liquid crystals (LCs) are optically anisotropic materials, and they are widely used in electro-optical display technology, known as liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Understanding the alignment phenomena of a nematic LC on a surface remains an important area of research, as the alignment process determines the LC's molecular orientation and conformation - which influence the LC's optical and electro-optical characteristics in LCDs.
Jan 9th, 2019
The reorientation of elongated liquid crystalline molecules under the action of the applied electric field is a major physical effect enabling the use of liquid crystals in a variety of applications. To improve liquid crystal devices, new liquid crystal-forming materials are required. Recently, by merging liquid crystals and nanotechnology, a new, non-synthetic way to produce advanced liquid crystal materials was proposed. In short, it was achieved by dispersing various types of nanomaterials in liquid crystals.
Sep 4th, 2018
New work describes how to control the kinetics of ion-capturing/ion-releasing regimes in liquid crystals by means of nanoparticles. Various types of nanomaterials and alignment layers are considered major components of the next generation of advanced liquid crystal devices. While the steady-state properties of ion-capturing/ion-releasing processes in liquid crystals doped with nanoparticles and sandwiched between alignment films are relatively well understood, the kinetics of these phenomena remains practically unexplored.
Feb 9th, 2018
For enhanced visualization experience, high resolution display technology with fast frame rate to suppress the motion blur at that resolution is essential. In modern display technologies, which are mostly active matrix display system, there are planar thin film transistors (TFTs) which enable both high resolution and fast imaging. Scaled TFTs can provide high resolution. Fast switching can be facilitated by the scaling as well as high mobility channel material. In new work, researchers have shown that both high resolution and fast frame rate display technology is possible, irrespective of the active channel material.
Nov 14th, 2017
Image sticking phenomena in liquid crystal (LC) devices became obvious soon after the production of the first nematic LC displays and have been a concern ever since. Now, researchers have developed a method to reduce the presence of excess ionic impurities by using a graphene electrode in the LC cell. Graphene shows high optical transmittance and high electrical conductivity, and therefore, graphene can be used as transparent electrodes.
Oct 24th, 2017
New work work shows the state of the art of engineering in wearable display technology. Researchers have demonstrated a passive matrix quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) display fully integrated with flexible electronics. They realized the visualization of meaningful information such as images, recorded healthcare data, and other messages using their display. This ultrathin and ultrasoft QLED array can be conformally laminated on human skin.
Aug 29th, 2017
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