Refractive index measurements and order parameter determination of the liquid crystal p-ethoxybenzilidene-p-n-butylaniline

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Palffy-Muhoray ◽  
D. A. Balzarini

Using a simple new interferometric technique, the ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices of the nematic liquid crystal p-ethoxybenzilidene-p-n-butylaniline have been measured separately as a function of temperature. Changes in the refractive indices have been measured with an accuracy of ±0.005% and the absolute values with an accuracy of ±0.5%. Thermal expansivity data has been obtained by utilizing a specially constructed thermometer containing the sample. By using a recently developed Clausius–Mossotti relation for anisotropic fluids, the effective molecular polarizability and hence the orientational order parameter have been obtained from refractive index and density measurements as a function of temperature.

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kędzierski ◽  
K. Garbat ◽  
Z. Raszewski ◽  
M. Kojdecki ◽  
K. Kowiorski ◽  
...  

AbstractOptical properties of a nematic liquid crystal with small refractive index and small birefringence were studied. The ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices and birefringence were measured as functions of temperature by using an Abbe refractometer and wedge nematic cells. From values of these indices the nematic orientational order parameter was calculated by using several methods and corresponding mathematical models. Kuczyński et al. method was found to be suitable for determining the order parameter also for materials featuring small ordinary refractive index, with unknown density.


2011 ◽  
Vol 181-182 ◽  
pp. 92-95
Author(s):  
Shezan Hasware ◽  
Ratnaraaj Parekh ◽  
Anil Devlekar ◽  
S.M. Bhatia

The mixtures of nematic [4-Hexyloxy-4-Biphenyl carbonitrile] and cholesteryl propionate were investigated at various temperatures. Measurements of refractive index and transition temperatures were noted by using an Abbe refractometer with a heating arrangement. Ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices were obtained which helped us in calculating the order parameter and its variation with temperature. We also carried out Fabry-Perot Scattering Studies (FPSS) on our samples to confirm the various transition temperatures. Photographs of liquid crystal mixture samples placed between crossed nicols are taken at various temperatures to observe the phase transition.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1262
Author(s):  
Mikhail A. Osipov ◽  
Maxim V. Gorkunov ◽  
Alexander A. Antonov

Density functional theory of rod-coil diblock copolymers, developed recently by the authors, has been generalised and used to study the liquid crystal ordering and microphase separation effects in the hexagonal, lamellar and nematic phases. The translational order parameters of rod and coil monomers and the orientational order parameters of rod-like fragments of the copolymer chains have been determined numerically by direct minimization of the free energy. The phase diagram has been derived containing the isotropic, the lamellar and the hexagonal phases which is consistent with typical experimental data. The order parameter profiles as functions of temperature and the copolymer composition have also been determined in different anisotropic phases. Finally, the spatial distributions of the density of rigid rod fragments and of the corresponding orientational order parameter in the hexagonal phase have been calculated.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Devi ◽  
B. Choudhury ◽  
A. Bhattacharjee ◽  
R. Dabrowski

AbstractOptical studies have been carried out on two fluorinated isothiocyanato nematic liquid crystal (LC) compounds 4′-butylcyclohexyl-3, 5-difluoro-4-isothiocyanatobiphenyl and 4′-pentylcyclohexyl-3, 5-difluoro-4-isothiocynatobiphenyl. Transition temperatures of the two samples were confirmed using a polarizing microscope. The two LC compounds were found to exhibit fairly high clearing temperatures. Measurements of refractive indices of the two compounds were done by using thin prism method with He-Ne laser beam of wavelength 630 nm. Birefringence of the two LC compounds was calculated from the measured refractive indices. Both the compounds are found to display fairly high values of birefringence. Validation of a modified four-parameter model, based on Vuks equation describing the temperature dependence of refractive indices of the two liquid crystals, is also presented in this paper. The model is validated by fitting the experimentally measured values of refractive indices, birefringence and average refractive indices of the two nematic LCs with the theoretical values. In this paper, the calculation of order parameters of the LCs is presented by using two methods: direct extrapolation method based solely on the birefringence data and by using modified Vuks method based on Haller’s extrapolation. As observed from the obtained results, this procedure of calculating order parameter gives very reasonable results.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Estrada-Wiese ◽  
J.A. Del Río

There are two main physical properties needed to fabricate 1D photonic structures and form perfect photonic bandgaps: the quality of thethickness periodicity and the refractive index of their components. Porous silicon (PS) is a nano-structured material widely used to prepare 1Dphotonic crystals due to the ease of tuning its porosity and its refractive index by changing the fabrication conditions. Since the morphologyof PS changes with porosity, the determination of PS’s refractive index is no easy task. To find the optical properties of PS we can usedifferent effective medium approximations (EMA). In this work we propose a method to evaluate the performance of the refractive index ofPS layers to build photonic Bragg reflectors. Through a quality factor we measure the agreement between theory and experiment and thereinpropose a simple procedure to determine the usability of the refractive indices. We test the obtained refractive indices in more complicatedstructures, such as a broadband Vis-NIR mirror, and by means of a Merit function we find a good agreement between theory and experiment.With this study we have proposed quantitative parameters to evaluate the refractive index for PS Bragg reflectors. This procedure could havean impact on the design and fabrication of 1D photonic structures for different applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (40) ◽  
pp. 23064-23072
Author(s):  
Andraž Rešetič ◽  
Jerneja Milavec ◽  
Valentina Domenici ◽  
Blaž Zupančič ◽  
Alexej Bubnov ◽  
...  

Orientational order parameter of magnetically aligned liquid crystal elastomer particles suspended in a cured silicone matrix is assessed using 2H-NMR spectroscopy. Obtained results correspond well with the composite's thermomechanical response.


Author(s):  
Cécile Zakri ◽  
Christophe Blanc ◽  
Eric Grelet ◽  
Camilo Zamora-Ledezma ◽  
Nicolas Puech ◽  
...  

Liquid crystal ordering is an opportunity to develop novel materials and applications with spontaneously aligned nanotubes or graphene particles. Nevertheless, achieving high orientational order parameter and large monodomains remains a challenge. In addition, our restricted knowledge of the structure of the currently available materials is a limitation for fundamental studies and future applications. This paper presents recent methodologies that have been developed to achieve large monodomains of nematic liquid crystals. These allow quantification and increase of their order parameters. Nematic ordering provides an efficient way to prepare conductive films that exhibit anisotropic properties. In particular, it is shown how the electrical conductivity anisotropy increases with the order parameter of the nematic liquid crystal. The order parameter can be tuned by controlling the length and entanglement of the nanotubes. In the second part of the paper, recent results on graphene liquid crystals are reported. The possibility to obtain water-based liquid crystals stabilized by surfactant molecules is demonstrated. Structural and thermodynamic characterizations provide indirect but statistical information on the dimensions of the graphene flakes. From a general point of view, this work presents experimental approaches to optimize the use of nanocarbons as liquid crystals and provides new methodologies for the still challenging characterization of such materials.


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