Phase transitions, critical phenomena, and instabilities

Transformations among many of the diverse states of matter arise from microscopic interactions involving very many (approximately 10(23)) constituent particles and result in dramatic changes in macroscopic properties. The values of some physical parameters vanish, while others approach infinity. These changes and their evolution are strikingly similar in systems as apparently different as liquids, magnets, superconductors, ferroelectrics, and liquid crystals, which suggests that there is an underlying unity to phase transition phenomena. The basis and extent of this unity are reviewed for many-body systems in equilibrium, and analogies with instability phenomena in systems far from equilibrium (such as lasers, fluid flows, and avalanche electronic devices) are pointed out.     

Optical activity and ferroelectricity in liquid crystals

Some liquid-crystalline phases of optically active materials are themselves optically active and have dissymmetric structures. The cholesteric phase and smectics C,I, and F have a helical order of their molecules. Plane-polarized light is rotated by the helix, and when the pitch of the helix is comparable to the wavelength of visible light, these phases will reflect irridescent light of a single color. The smectics phases can exhibit ferroelectricity and have been utilized recently in fast-switching light valves. A relation between the microscopic property of molecular configuration and the macroscopic properties of ferroelectricity and the rotation of plane-polarized light is developed.     

Particle-stabilized defect gel in cholesteric liquid crystals

Dispersions of colloidal particles in cholesteric liquid crystals form an unusual solid by stabilizing a network of linear defects under tension in the ideal layered structure of the cholesteric. The large length scales of the cholesteric liquid crystals allowed direct observation of the network structure, and its properties were correlated with rheological measurements of elasticity. This system serves as a model for a class of solids formed when particles are mixed with layered materials such as thermotropic and lyotropic smectic liquid crystals and block copolymers.     

Decagonal and quasi-crystalline tilings in medieval Islamic architecture

The conventional view holds that girih (geometric star-and-polygon, or strapwork) patterns in medieval Islamic architecture were conceived by their designers as a network of zigzagging lines, where the lines were drafted directly with a straightedge and a compass. We show that by 1200 C.E. a conceptual breakthrough occurred in which girih patterns were reconceived as tessellations of a special set of equilateral polygons ("girih tiles") decorated with lines. These tiles enabled the creation of increasingly complex periodic girih patterns, and by the 15th century, the tessellation approach was combined with self-similar transformations to construct nearly perfect quasi-crystalline Penrose patterns, five centuries before their discovery in the West.     

Critical-like phenomena associated with liquid-liquid transition in a molecular liquid

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that there is only one unique liquid state for any material, recent evidence suggests that there can be more than two liquid states even for a single-component substance. The transition between these liquid states is called a liquid-liquid phase transition. We report the detailed experimental investigation on the kinetics of the continuous spinodal-decomposition-type transformation of one liquid into another for triphenyl phosphite. From the analysis of the linear regime, we found that the correlation length, xi, of fluctuations of the relevant order parameter diverges as xi = xi(0)[(T(SD) - T)/T(SD)](-nu) (where xi(0) = 60 nm and nu = 0.5) while approaching the spinodal temperature, T(SD). This is an indication of a critical-like anomaly associated with the liquid-liquid transition. We also revealed that the order parameter governing the liquid-liquid transition must be of a nonconserved nature.     

Cosmology in the laboratory: defect dynamics in liquid crystals

Liquid crystals are remarkably useful for laboratory exploration of the dynamics of cosmologically relevant defects. They are convenient to work with, they allow the direct study of the "scaling solution" for a network of strings, and they provide a model for the evolution of monopoles and texture. Experiments described here support the simple "one-scale" model for cosmic string evolution, as well as some qualitative predictions of string statistical mechanics. The structure of monopoles and their apparent cylindrical but not spherical symmetry is discussed. A particular kind of defect known as texture is described and is shown to have a dynamical instability-it can decay into a monopole-antimonopole pair. This decay process has been observed occurring in the liquid crystal, and studied with numerical simulations.     

Biomolecular interactions at phospholipid-decorated surfaces of liquid crystals

The spontaneous assembly of phospholipids at planar interfaces between thermotropic liquid crystals and aqueous phases gives rise to patterned orientations of the liquid crystals that reflect the spatial and temporal organization of the phospholipids. Strong and weak specific-binding events involving proteins at these interfaces drive the reorganization of the phospholipids and trigger orientational transitions in the liquid crystals. Because these interfaces are fluid, processes involving the lateral organization of proteins (such as the formation of protein- and phospholipid-rich domains) are also readily imaged by the orientational response of the liquid crystal, as are stereospecific enzymatic events. These results provide principles for label-free monitoring of aqueous streams for molecular and biomolecular species without the need for complex instrumentation.     

Self-organized discotic liquid crystals for high-efficiency organic photovoltaics

Self-organization of liquid crystalline and crystalline-conjugated materials has been used to create, directly from solution, thin films with structures optimized for use in photodiodes. The discotic liquid crystal hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene was used in combination with a perylene dye to produce thin films with vertically segregated perylene and hexabenzocoronene, with large interfacial surface area. When incorporated into diode structures, these films show photovoltaic response with external quantum efficiencies of more than 34 percent near 490 nanometers. These efficiencies result from efficient photoinduced charge transfer between the hexabenzocoronene and perylene, as well as from effective transport of charges through vertically segregated perylene and hexabenzocoronene pi systems. This development demonstrates that complex structures can be engineered from novel materials by means of simple solution-processing steps and may enable inexpensive, high-performance, thin-film photovoltaic technology.     

Comment on "Decagonal and quasi-crystalline tilings in medieval Islamic architecture"

Lu and Steinhardt (Reports, 23 February 2007, p. 1106) claimed the discovery of a large, potentially quasi-crystalline Islamic tiling in the Darb-i Imam shrine but regard the earlier Maragha tiling, previously described as quasiperiodic, as a small isolated motif. We demonstrate that the Darb-i Imam pattern is periodic and that the quasi-crystalline discs superimposed on its lattice are derivatives of the Maragha pattern.     

非热电磁生物效应特性与液晶电流体动力不稳定性的对比研究

采用液晶生物膜模型，将非热电磁生物效应与液晶电流体动力不稳定性的特性进行了对比研究，提出非热电磁生物效应的关键机理是液晶生物膜的电流体不稳定性假说。并用此假说对非热电磁生物效应的非线性特性、协同性、相干性、“窗”特性、阈值特性等重要特性都作了很好的解释。     

Surface-driven switching of liquid crystals using redox-active groups on electrodes

Electrochemical control of the oxidation state of ferrocene-decorated electrodes leads to surface-driven changes in the orientations of thermotropic liquid crystals. When the electrodes possess nanometer-scale topography, voltages of 0.0 to 0.3 volts (versus a counter electrode in a two-electrode cell) can drive changes in the orientation of the liquid crystals in the plane and/or out of the plane of the electrodes. Electrodes not supporting ferrocene do not lead to surface-driven orientational transitions. The in-plane transitions are driven by the reorganization of the monolayer of ferrocene upon oxidation of ferrocene to ferrocenium. The out-of-plane transition reflects a dielectric coupling between the liquid crystal and the diffuse part of an electrical double layer that evolves upon oxidation of ferrocene to ferrocenium. These results suggest new ways to couple the orientations of liquid crystals to chemical and electrical stimuli in electro-optical devices and chemical sensors.     

The cosmological kibble mechanism in the laboratory: string formation in liquid crystals

The production of strings (disclination lines and loops) has been observed by means of the Kibble mechanism of domain (bubble) formation in the isotropic-nematic phase transition of the uniaxial nematic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-n-pentylbiphenyl. The number of strings formed per bubble is about 0.6. This value is in reasonable agreement with a numerical simulation of the experiment in which the Kibble mechanism is used for the order parameter space of a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal.     

Principles for measurement of chemical exposure based on recognition-driven anchoring transitions in liquid crystals

The competitive binding of a molecule forming a liquid crystal and a targeted analyte to a common molecular receptor presented at a solid surface possessing nanometer-scale topography is used to trigger an easily visualized surface-driven change in the orientation of a micrometer-thick film of liquid crystal. Diffusion of the targeted analyte from atmosphere to surface-immobilized receptor across the micrometer-thick film of liquid crystal is fast (on the order of seconds), and the competitive interaction of the targeted analyte and liquid crystal with the receptor provides a high level of tolerance to nontargeted species (water, ethanol, acetone, and hexanes). Systems that provide parts-per-billion (by volume) sensitivity to either organoamine or organophosphorus compounds are demonstrated, and their use for imaging of spatial gradients in concentration is reported. This approach does not require complex instrumentation and could provide the basis of wearable personalized sensors for measurement of real-time and cumulative exposure to environmental agents.     

英语写作中的回避现象与成因

回避现象(集中表现在词汇、句型、衔接、成语、修辞、话题等方面)在学生英语作文中频繁出现,究其原因,主要是词汇量小和语言知识匮乏。教师应改革教学方法,鼓励学生大胆尝试新知识,采用新的学习策略。     

Ultrafast phenomena in semiconductor devices

Evolving high-speed semiconductor technology requires a more complete understanding of semiconductors on a picosecond time scale. This article discusses ultrafast phenomena that may influence device performance and describes new experimental methods utilizing short optical pulses to investigate materials and device structures.