The LC MRC is a Single Interdisciplinary Research Group that unites the fields of physics, chemistry, chemical engineering and electrical engineering toward the creation, understanding, development and application of novel chiral/polar liquid crystal (LC) materials. The Center conducts basic and applied research on the phases, structures and electro-optics of liquid crystals focusing on the roles of chirality and polarization in LC behavior, and collaborates with the rapidly developing US ferroelectric display industry. The Center is organized along three main themes: discovery of novel LC phases and materials; study of LC-solid interfaces and its use to control molecular orientation in LC devices; and development of polymer-liquid crystal composite materials.


The LC MRC has developed into one of the principal centers of liquid crystal study and expertise in the US, its research spanning the range from cutting-edge, basic LC science to the development of materials and devices with enhanced capabilities for electro-optic, nonlinear optic, and other novel applications. The Center is a unique venue worldwide for research on polar and/or chiral condensed phases, and for engaging the exciting basic science and application opportunities that they offer. By virtue of their attractive characteristics for electro-optic applications, ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) are poised for wide commercial applications, and the LC MRC has aggressively pursued its role as the principal US resource for FLC industrial development, doing collaborative research with a variety of companies.


Although the principal worldwide focus of LC research is on applications, liquid crystals also present a variety of challenging problems and opportunities for advancing the basic science of liquid crystals. Surely one of the most exciting and challenging areas of condensed matter physics is understanding the connection between molecular and macroscopic properties of organic materials. LCs, by virtue of the undeniably intimate coupling of their distinctive molecular architectures and macroscopic properties, are a fruitful testing ground for studying this connection. For example, the polarization in FLCs is one of the most direct and experimentally accessible probes of orientational ordering in liquid crystals. Chiral LCs remain at the frontier of liquid crystal science, surprising us with unexpected phases, structures, fluctuations, interface behavior, and optical effects. We understand little of LC molecular-macroscopic relations, making the directed design of LCs more of an art than a science. LCs offer unique opportunities for improving our understanding of condensed matter. The purpose of the LC MRC is to create a context in which these problems can be effectively addressed. The LC MRC vertically integrates LC chemical synthesis, materials evaluation and molecular modeling in a coherent research program directed toward broadening our basic scientific understanding of molecular ordering in liquid crystals and toward developing new LCs for EO, NLO, and other novel applications.


Noel A. Clark (Principal Investigator)
Professor
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

David M. Walba (Co-Principal Investigator)
Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Matthew A. Glaser (Co-Principal Investigator)
Research Professor
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Joseph E. Maclennan (Co-Principal Investigator)
Research Professor
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder,CO 80309

Leo R. Radzihovsky (Co-Principal Investigator)
 Professor
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Douglas L. Gin (Senior Investigator)
 Professor
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Daniel Schwartz (Senior Investigator)
 Professor
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Richard K. Shoemaker (Senior Investigator)
Senior Research Associate
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Ivan I. Smalyukh (Senior Investigator)
Assistant Professor  
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Thomas E. Furtak (Senior Investigator)
Professor  
Department of Physics
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401

Grant D. Smith (Senior Investigator)
 Professor
Department of Materials Science
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Tomasso Bellini (Senior Investigator - International)
Visiting Professor
Department of Physics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Edgardo Garcia (Senior Investigator - International)
Visiting Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

Patrick Keller (Senior Investigator - International)
Visiting Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309

 

 

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