A new liquid phase discovered

[Judi Lynn]

The discovery is years in the making.

BY
AMIT MALEWAR
JUNE 11, 2020



The colors in this newly discovered phase of liquid crystal shift as researchers apply a small electric field. Credit: SMRC
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Soft Materials Research Center (SMRC) have discovered an elusive phase of matter. The discovery describes the discovery “ferroelectric nematic” phase of liquid crystal.

Predicted by Debye and Born 100 y ago and since revisited extensively, in systems ranging from colloidal suspensions of rods or discs to melts of polar molecules, the existence of the ferroelectric nematic has never been certain.

Nematic liquid crystals’ materials exhibit a curious mix of fluid and solid like behaviors, which permit them to control light. Specialists have utilized them broadly to make the liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in numerous laptops, TVs, and cellphones.

A ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal phase is much more disciplined. In such a liquid crystal, patches or “domains” form in the sample in which the molecules all point a similar direction, either right or left. In physics parlance, these materials have polar ordering.

More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/new-liquid-phase-discovered/32984/