Related papers: Photomechanical coupling in photoactive nematic el…
Motivated by the need for new materials and green energy production and conversion processes, a class of mathematical models for liquid crystal elastomers integrated within a theoretical charge pump electrical circuit is considered. The…
Instabilities in thin elastic sheets, such as wrinkles, are of broad interest both from a fundamental viewpoint and also because of their potential for engineering applications. Nematic liquid crystal elastomers offer a new form of control…
The nonlinear component of the optomechanical interaction between light and mechanical vibration promises many exciting classical and quantum mechanical applications, but is generally weak. Here we demonstrate enhancement of nonlinear…
I put forward a continuum theory for active nematic gels, defined as fluids or suspensions of orientable rodlike objects endowed with active dynamics, that is based on symmetry arguments and compatibility with thermodynamics. The starting…
Modeling liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) at the molecular level is crucial for the predictable design of energy-conversion and stimuli-responsive materials. Here, we develop a self-consistent field theory for LCEs which captures the…
Nematic elastomers with a locked-in anisotropy direction exhibit semi-soft elastic response characterized by a plateau in the stress-strain curve in which stress does not change with strain. We calculate the global phase diagram for a…
Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked elastomer networks with liquid crystal mesogens incorporated into the main or side chain. Polydomain liquid crystalline (nematic) elastomers exhibit unusual mechanical properties like soft…
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are soft phase-changing solids that exhibit large reversible contractions upon heating, Goldstone-like soft modes and resultant microstructural instabilities. We heat a planar LCE slab to isotropic, clamp…
FeSe$_{x}$Te$_{1-x}$ compounds present a complex phase diagram, ranging from the nematicity of FeSe to the $(\pi, \pi)$ magnetism of FeTe. We focus on FeSe$_{0.4}$Te$_{0.6}$, where the nematic ordering is absent at equilibrium. We use a…
There is current interest in developing photoactive materials that deform on illumination and can thus be used for photomechanical actuation. This is attractive since it can be affected at a distance, different frequencies can be used to…
In vivo and in vitro systems of cells and extra-cellular matrix (ECM) systems are well known to form ordered patterns of orientationally aligned fibers. Here, we interpret them as active analogs of the (disordered) isotropic to the…
Electromechanical coupling through piezoelectric polymer chains allows the emission of organic molecules in active nanowires to be tuned. This effect is evidenced by highly bendable arrays of counter-ion dye-doped nanowires made of a…
The phenomenological torque balance model previously introduced to describe the electrically assisted light-induced gliding is generalized to study the reorientation dynamics of the nematic liquid crystal easy axis at photoaligned azo-dye…
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) containing light-sensitive molecules exhibit large reversible deformation when subjected to illumination. Here, we investigate the role of optical penetration depth on this photomechanical response. We…
Arrays of optically trapped nanoparticles have emerged as a promising platform for the study of complex non-equilibrium phenomena. Analogous to atomic many-body systems, one of the crucial ingredients is the ability to precisely control the…
Designing smart devices with tunable shapes has important applications in industrial manufacture. In this paper, we investigate the nonlinear deformation and the morphological transitions between buckling, necking, and snap-through…
The interplay between charge stripes and pairing has long been a subject of scrutiny in a broad class of unconventional superconductors, as in some cases it is unclear whether this interplay benefits the ensuing superfluidity. Experiments…
We derive a multiphysics model that accounts for network elasticity with spontaneous strains, swelling and nematic interactions in liquid crystal gels (LCGs). We discuss the coupling among the various physical mechanisms, with particular…
We demonstrate that plastic deformation in solids is associated with a dynamic transition that is reminiscent to the transition from a superconducting to a mixed phase in Type II superconductors. We report analytic calculations, extensive…
We study azimuthal gliding of the easy axis that occurs in nematic liquid crystals brought in contact with the photoaligned azo-dye film under the action of reorienting UV light combined with an in-plane electric field. For irradiation with…