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Nazarova D, Nedelchev L, Berberova-Buhova N, Mateev G. Nanocomposite Photoanisotropic Materials for Applications in Polarization Holography and Photonics. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 13:2946. [PMID: 37999300 PMCID: PMC10674406 DOI: 10.3390/nano13222946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Photoanisotropic materials, in particular azodyes and azopolymers, have attracted significant research interest in the last decades. This is due to their applications in polarization holography and 4G optics, enabling polarization-selective diffractive optical elements with unique properties, including circular polarization beam-splitters, polarization-selective bifocal lenses, and many others. Numerous methods have been applied to increase the photoinduced birefringence of these materials, and as a result, to obtain polarization holographic elements with a high diffraction efficiency. Recently, a new approach has emerged that has been extensively studied by many research groups, namely doping azobenzene-containing materials with nanoparticles with various compositions, sizes, and morphologies. The resulting nanocomposites have shown significant enhancement in their photoanisotropic response, including increased photoinduced birefringence, leading to a higher diffraction efficiency and a larger surface relief modulation in the case of polarization holographic recordings. This review aims to cover the most important achievements in this new but fast-growing field of research and to present an extensive comparative analysis of the result, reported by many research groups during the last two decades. Different hypotheses to explain the mechanism of photoanisotropy enhancement in these nanocomposites are also discussed. Finally, we present our vision for the future development of this scientific field and outline its potential applications in advanced photonics technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimana Nazarova
- Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; (D.N.); (N.B.-B.); (G.M.)
- Department of Physics, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Lian Nedelchev
- Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; (D.N.); (N.B.-B.); (G.M.)
- Department of Physics, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Nataliya Berberova-Buhova
- Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; (D.N.); (N.B.-B.); (G.M.)
- Department of Physics, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Georgi Mateev
- Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; (D.N.); (N.B.-B.); (G.M.)
- Department of Physics, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
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Polanšek J, Holbl A, Starzonek S, Drozd-Rzoska A, Rzoska SJ, Kralj S. History-dependent phase transition character. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2022; 45:70. [PMID: 35997865 PMCID: PMC9399213 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-022-00221-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We consider history-dependent behavior in domain-type configurations in orientational order that are formed in configurations reached via continuous symmetry-breaking phase transitions. In equilibrium, these systems exhibit in absence of impurities a spatially homogeneous order. We focus on cases where domains are formed via (i) Kibble-Zurek mechanism in fast enough quenches or by (ii) Kibble mechanism in strongly supercooled phases. In both cases, domains could be arrested due to pinned topological defects that are formed at domain walls. In systems exhibiting polar or quadrupolar order, point and line defects (disclinations) dominate, respectively. In particular, the disclinations could form complex entangled structures and are more efficient in stabilizing domains. Domain patterns formed by fast quenches could be arrested by impurities imposing a strong enough random-field type disorder, as suggested by the Imry-Ma theorem. On the other hand, domains formed in supercooled systems could be also formed if large enough energy barriers arresting domains are established due to large enough systems' stiffness. The resulting effective interactions in established domain-type patterns could be described by random matrices. The resulting eigenvectors reveal expected structural excitations formed in such structures. The most important role is commonly played by the random matrix largest eigenvector. Qualitatively different behavior is expected if this eigenvector exhibits a localized or extended character. In the former case, one expects a gradual, non-critical-type transition into a glass-type structure. However, in the latter case, a critical-like phase behavior could be observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juš Polanšek
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroska 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Arbresha Holbl
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroska 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Szymon Starzonek
- Institute of High Pressure Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Aleksandra Drozd-Rzoska
- Institute of High Pressure Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Sylwester J Rzoska
- Institute of High Pressure Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Sokołowska 29/37, 01-142, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Samo Kralj
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroska 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Cordoyiannis G, Lavrič M, Tzitzios V, Trček M, Lelidis I, Nounesis G, Kralj S, Thoen J, Kutnjak Z. Experimental Advances in Nanoparticle-Driven Stabilization of Liquid-Crystalline Blue Phases and Twist-Grain Boundary Phases. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 11:2968. [PMID: 34835732 PMCID: PMC8618027 DOI: 10.3390/nano11112968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in experimental studies of nanoparticle-driven stabilization of chiral liquid-crystalline phases are highlighted. The stabilization is achieved via the nanoparticles' assembly in the defect lattices of the soft liquid-crystalline hosts. This is of significant importance for understanding the interactions of nanoparticles with topological defects and for envisioned technological applications. We demonstrate that blue phases are stabilized and twist-grain boundary phases are induced by dispersing surface-functionalized CdSSe quantum dots, spherical Au nanoparticles, as well as MoS2 nanoplatelets and reduced-graphene oxide nanosheets in chiral liquid crystals. Phase diagrams are shown based on calorimetric and optical measurements. Our findings related to the role of the nanoparticle core composition, size, shape, and surface coating on the stabilization effect are presented, followed by an overview of and comparison with other related studies in the literature. Moreover, the key points of the underlying mechanisms are summarized and prospects in the field are briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Cordoyiannis
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (M.L.); (M.T.); (Z.K.)
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 16600 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Marta Lavrič
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (M.L.); (M.T.); (Z.K.)
| | - Vasileios Tzitzios
- Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Athens, Greece;
| | - Maja Trček
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (M.L.); (M.T.); (Z.K.)
| | - Ioannis Lelidis
- Faculty of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, 15784 Athens, Greece;
| | - George Nounesis
- Institute of Nuclear and Radiological Sciences and Technology, National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Athens, Greece;
| | - Samo Kralj
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia;
| | - Jan Thoen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium;
| | - Zdravko Kutnjak
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (M.L.); (M.T.); (Z.K.)
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Derbali M, Guesmi A, Hamadi NB, Soltani T. Dielectric, electrooptic and viscoelastic properties in cybotactic nematic phase doped with ferroelectric nanoparticles. J Mol Liq 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2020.113768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Liu F, Ma G, Zhao D. Nickel nanoparticle-stabilized room-temperature blue-phase liquid crystals. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2018; 29:285703. [PMID: 29595520 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aabaa4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Blue-phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) are regarded as a potential candidate for the next generation of optical devices, but they appear in a narrow temperature range, which restricts their applicability. The nanoparticle (NP) stabilization of BPLCs, is usually about either simple-cubic BP (BPII) or body-centered-cubic BP (BPI). Hence, NP-stabilized BPIIs and BPIs possessing wide temperature ranges have been scarcely reported. Here, nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) were synthesized and introduced into a BPLC. The concentration-dependent temperature range effects of Ni NPs on the BPLC were investigated. A trace amount of Ni NPs could stabilize the BPLC and increase the temperature ranges of BPII and BPI; this is attributable to the Ni NPs tending to be trapped at the joints of the disclination lines, as a result of the elastic interaction, stabilizing the overall lattice structure of the BPLC. When doped with 0.05 wt% Ni NPs, the mixture shows a wider range with 7.7 °C than the range with 5.9 °C of the BPLC without Ni NPs. Meanwhile, the phase sequence and range of the aforementioned phases are reproducible upon heating and cooling, which shows that the BPLCs doped with Ni NPs are thermodynamically stable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fashun Liu
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
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Lin P, Yan Q, Wei Z, Chen Y, Chen F, Huang Z, Li X, Wang H, Wang X, Cheng Z. All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots stabilized blue phase liquid crystals. OPTICS EXPRESS 2018; 26:18310-18319. [PMID: 30114012 DOI: 10.1364/oe.26.018310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
All-inorganic perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have been effectively incorporated in the three-dimensional ordered structure of blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) to stabilize the BPLCs. Uniform dispersion, reduced phase transition temperature, widened BP temperature range, dynamic and fast electro-optical response and static optical display of selective reflection mode and photoluminescence mode have been confirmed with a given concentration of PQDs. Such a novel strategy of assembling all-inorganic PQDs in BPLCs shows favorable prospects for wide-range and near room temperature BPLCs, responsive BPLCs, multifunctional display materials and tunable bandgap lasers.
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Chi CY, Lin GJ, Hu SS, Tsai SY, Chen TJ, Lin JH, Yang YJ, Wu JJ. Effects of cell gap on the optoelectronic properties of pure blue-phase liquid crystal devices: estimating the Kerr constant. APPLIED OPTICS 2017; 56:1207-1214. [PMID: 28158135 DOI: 10.1364/ao.56.001207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the Kerr constant of pure blue-phase liquid crystal (BPLC) without polymer doping at room temperature and the optoelectronic properties dependent on the cell thickness are explored. The relation between the phase and the voltage in oblique incident light was measured via a reasonable vertical electric field for different thicknesses of BPLC cells. It was found that the Kerr constant formula can be amended with the functions related to the cell gap. This study demonstrates a method to estimate the Kerr constant, especially for cells within a small electrical field, which will benefit optoelectronic applications.
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Popa-Nita V. The phase behavior of rigid rods in an anisotropic mean field with applications to carbon nanotubes in nematic liquid crystals. J Chem Phys 2015; 143:094901. [PMID: 26342384 DOI: 10.1063/1.4928655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenomenological model [van der Schoot et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 112, 4512 (2008)] for predicting the alignment of carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersions in thermotropic liquid crystals is extended to include the attractive interactions between CNTs. The influence of the attractive forces (described by a spatially uniform mean field) on the phase behavior and orientational properties of the mixture are analyzed.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Popa-Nita
- Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, P.O. Box MG-11, Bucharest 077125, Romania
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Lin TH, Chen CW, Li Q. Self-Organized 3D Photonic Superstructure: Blue Phase Liquid Crystal. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-18293-3_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
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Trček M, Cordoyiannis G, Tzitzios V, Kralj S, Nounesis G, Lelidis I, Kutnjak Z. Nanoparticle-induced twist-grain boundary phase. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2014; 90:032501. [PMID: 25314459 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.90.032501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
By means of high-resolution ac calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy, it is demonstrated that surface-functionalized spherical CdSSe nanoparticles induce a twist-grain boundary phase when dispersed in a chiral liquid crystal. These nanoparticles can effectively stabilize the one-dimensional lattice of screw dislocations, thus establishing the twist-grain boundary order between the cholesteric and the smectic-A phases. A Landau-de Gennes-Ginzburg model is used to analyze the impact of nanoparticles on widening the temperature range of molecular organizations possessing a lattice of screw dislocations. We show that in addition to the defect-core-replacement mechanism, the saddle-splay elasticity may also play a significant role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Trček
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - George Cordoyiannis
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia and Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Zografou, Greece
| | - Vassilios Tzitzios
- Biomolecular Physics Laboratory, National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos," 15310 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
| | - Samo Kralj
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | - George Nounesis
- Biomolecular Physics Laboratory, National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos," 15310 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
| | - Ioannis Lelidis
- Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Zografou, Greece
| | - Zdravko Kutnjak
- Condensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia and Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Banerjee PP, Evans DR, Lee W, Reshetnyak VY, Tansu N. Hybrid organic-inorganic materials for novel photonic applications. APPLIED OPTICS 2013; 52:HM1-HM3. [PMID: 23913093 DOI: 10.1364/ao.52.000hm1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
This novel joint feature issue on "Hybrid organic-inorganic materials for photonic applications" in Applied Optics and Optics Materials Express comprises 14 papers on liquid crystals, polymers, photoconductive materials, and gratings and filters. It is hoped that this feature issue encourages and stimulates further research into hybrid materials with enhanced linear and nonlinear optical properties, their mechanisms of operation, and their applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Partha P Banerjee
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Electro-Optics Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469, USA.
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