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Introduction to Liquid Crystals

Chang-Kui Duan

12/23/14
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Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Contents
0. History of LC and LCD
1. Fundamentals
2. Molecular structure and Chemical Composition
3. Electronic Properties
4. Lyotropic, Polymeric, and Thermotropic Liquid
Crystals
5. Mixtures and Composites
6. Liquid Crystal Cells and Sample Preparation
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Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

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1888-1899
1888, Austrian
Botanist Freidrich
Reinitzer discovers
liquid crystals
1897,German scientist
Karl Braun invents the
cathode ray tube
(CRT)

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Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

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1900-1970
1958, The first paper
research about LCD in
the U.S. wrote by Dr.
Glenn Brown
1963, Richard Williams
and George Heilmeier
suggested using liquid
crystal materials for
display

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

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1900-1970
1967, James Fergason
discovered the "twisted
nematic" LCD. He
produced the first
practical displays
1968, RCA group had a
display based on the
dynamic scattering mode
(DSM) of liquid crystals

Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

1970-1980
1972,International Liquid

Crystal Company
(ILIXCO) produced the
first modern LCD watch
using Fergason Ideal
1973, ,Sharp produced
the first portable
calculator, using a DSM
LCD screen
1979, Walter Spear and
Peter LeComber made
the first color display
using lightweight thin film
transfer (TFT) LCD
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Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

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1980- 2000
1985, Seiko-Epson
unveiled the first
commercial LCD color
TV set, which had a 2
inch view
1992, Sharp developed a
multimedia-compatible
16.5 inch color TFT LCD,
that was the world's first
LCD ViewCam

Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Innovation Timeline

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2000- Present
2004, Philips
demonstrated a 20 3-D
LCD at CeBIT in
Hannover
2005, Samsung
Developed World's
Largest (82") Full HDTV
TFT-LCD

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Other LCD application: LCD

Projector

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Digital Light Processing (DLP)

Projector

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Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

1. Fundamentals
States of Matter
What is Liquid Crystal?
Classification

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States of Matter
Solid
Liquid crystal
fourth state of matter

Liquid
Gas
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Images: MacDonald, R. Liquid Crystals Fascinating State of Matter or "Soft is beautiful".

Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of
Accessed 7-2006

Modern Physics, CUPT

What is a Liquid
Crystal?
Liquid Crystal a stable phase of
matter characterized by anisotropic
properties without the existence of a
3-dimensional crystal lattice
generally lying between the solid
and isotropic (liquid) phase.
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Isotropic
Liquids and gases
(uniform properties in all
directions).

vs.

Anisotropic
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Liquid Crystals
have orientational order

Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Model

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Classifications
Lyotropic, Polymeric, and Thermotropic Liquid
Crystals
Nematic, cholesteric, smectic, and ferroelectric.
Small molecular, polymer

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Modern Physics, CUPT

2. Molecular structure and

Chemical Composition

A side chain R, two or more aromatic rings A and

A, connected by linkage groups X and Y, and at
the other end connected to a terminal group R.

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Examples
N-(4- Methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline
(MBBA)
molecule

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Consequence

All the physical and optical properties of liquid crystals are

governed by the properties of these constituent groups and
how they are chemically synthesized together: Dielectric
constants, elastic constants, viscosities, absorption
spectra, transition temperatures, existence of mesophases,
anisotropies, and optical nonlinearities
Molecules are quite large and anisotropic, practically
impossible to treat all the possible variations in the
molecular architecture and the resulting changes in the
physical properties.
Some generally applicable observations on the
dependence of the physical properties on the molecular
constituents.

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Chemical stability
Depends on the central linkage group
Schiff-base unstable
Ester, azo, and azoxy stable, but are also quite
susceptible to moisture, temperature change, and
ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Compounds without a central linkage group are
among the most stable liquid crystals ever
synthesized.
Other compounds such as pyrimide and
phenylcyclohexane are also quite stable.
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Modern Physics, CUPT

3. Electronic Properties
Decided by they constituent molecules
Energy level structures rather complex
Theories are still not sufficiently precise in relating
the molecular structures and the liquid crystal
responses.
Limit here to stating some of the well-established
results, mainly from molecular theory and
experimental observations.

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energy levels or orbitals of aromatic

rings

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Characteristic
Very Absorptive in UV ( < ~ 200 nm)
Quite transparent in Vis and IR (0.4-5 m)
Far IR (>=9 m), very absorptive due to
rovibrational transitions

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Modern Physics, CUPT

4. Lyotropic, Polymeric, and

Thermotropic Liquid Crystals
Lyotropic Liquid Crystals are obtained when an
appropriate concentration of a material is
dissolved in some solvent; Ex: Soap; Are of
interest in biological studies.
Polymeric Liquid Crystals are basically the
polymer versions of the monomers

Refer to the 1.3.1 and 1.3.2

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Thermotropic Liquid
Crystals
Most widely used and extensively studied
Liquid Crystals
There are 3 basic phases : Nematics,
Cholesterics, and Smectics

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Phases

Nematic,

Smectic & Cholesteric

Anisotrpic substances may go through one or

several Liquid Crystal Phases
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Modern Physics, CUPT

Nematic and Cholesteric

Namatic
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Cholesteric
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Modern Physics, CUPT

Smectic-A and Smectic-C

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Smectic C* (ferroelectric) and

unwounded Smectic C*

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Modern Physics, CUPT

4. Mixtures and Composites

temperature ranges for pure liquid crystals are quite
limited.
Industrial applications employ mostly mixtures,
composites, or doped liquid crystals with tailormade physical and optical properties.
The optical properties, dielectric anisotropies, and
viscosities are very different from those of the
individual mixture constituents.
Creating mixtures is an art, guided of course by
some scientific principles.

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Mixtures

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Dye-Doped Liquid Crystals

Modification of their well-known linear, and more

recently observed nonlinear, optical properties

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Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Polymer-Dispersed Liquid
Crystals

See textbook 1.4.3

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Modern Physics, CUPT

5. Liquid Crystal Cells and

Sample Preparation
The alignment of the liquid crystal axis in cells is
essentially controlled by the cell walls, whose
surfaces are treated in a variety of ways to
achieve various director axis alignments.
Bulk Thin Film
Liquid Crystal Optical Slab Waveguide, Fiber,
and Nanostructured Photonic Crystals

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Bulk Thin Film

For procedure
to prepare,
see 1.5.1

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Modern Physics, CUPT

Liquid Crystal Optical Slab Waveguide, Fiber,

and Nanostructured Photonic Crystals

1.5.2 for details

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Chang-Kui Duan, Institute of

Modern Physics, CUPT

Order Parameter, Phase

Transition,and Free Energies
The contents of next chapter!

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Modern Physics, CUPT