Related papers: Development of polar nematic fluids with giant-\k{…
So-called polar liquid crystals possess spontaneous long-range mutual orientation of their electric dipole moments, conferring bulk polarity to fluid phases of matter. The combination of polarity and fluidity leads to complex phase…
The discovery of fluid states of matter with spontaneous bulk polar order is appreciated as a major discovery in the fields of soft matter and liquid crystals. Typically, this manifests as polar order superimposed atop conventional phase…
The ability to manipulate polar entities with multiple external fields opens exciting possibilities for emerging functionalities and novel applications in spin systems, photonics, metamaterials, and soft matter. Liquid crystals (LCs),…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking and emergent polar order are each of fundamental importance to a range of scientific disciplines, as well as generating rich phase behaviour in liquid crystals (LCs). Here, we show the union of these phenomena…
The recently discovered ferroelectric nematic liquids incorporate to the functional combination of fluidity, processability and anisotropic optical properties of nematic liquids, an astonishing range of physical properties derived from the…
Thermotropic liquid crystals are versatile optical materials that exhibit a state of matter intermediate between liquids and solids. Their properties can change significantly with temperature, pressure, or other external factors, leading to…
Since the recent discoveries, ferroelectric nematics became of upmost interest due to their outstanding ferroelectric properties. In this work, we prepared a series of polar molecules revealing a ferroelectric nematic phase (NF) with a very…
Fluid molecular ferroelectrics are a new class of organic materials where ferroelectricity is found in conjunction with 3D fluidity whilst still retaining spontaneous polarization values comparable to their traditional solid state…
Ferroelectric nematic (NF) liquid crystals combine liquid-like fluidity and orientational order of conventional nematics with macroscopic electric polarization comparable in magnitude to solid state ferroelectric materials. Here, we present…
Polar metals, materials in which electric polarisation and metallicity coexist, are exceptionally rare because itinerant electrons screen long-range dipoles and favour centrosymmetric structures. Engineering polar textures in a conducting…
The structural symmetry of solids plays an important role in defining their linear and nonlinear optical properties. The quest for versatile, cost-effective, large-scale, and defect-free approaches and materials platforms for tailoring…
A set of polar rod-shaped liquid crystalline molecules with large dipole moments (mu > 10.4-14.8 D), their molecular structures based on the ferroelectric nematic prototype DIO, are designed, synthesized, and investigated. When the…
Various possibilities of polar self-organisation in low molar mass nematic, smectic and columnar liquid crystals are discussed with particular focus on the underlying molecular symmetries and interactions. Distinction is made between vector…
Polar metals are an underexplored material class combining two properties that are typically incompatible, namely a polar crystal structure and reasonable electrical conductivity. These intriguing materials offer a unique combination of…
The recent quest for improved functional materials like high permittivity dielectrics and/or multiferroics has triggered an intense wave of research. Many materials have been checked for their dielectric permittivity or their polarization…
Polar liquid crystals possess three dimensional orientational order coupled with unidirectional electric polarity, yielding fluid ferroelectrics. Such polar phases are generated by rod-like molecules with large electric dipole moments.…
Ferroelectric nematic phases are a new class of polar fluids in which spontaneous polarization is directly coupled to the orientational order, providing unique opportunities for creating self-organized materils with spatially modulated…
Modeling the dielectric behavior of molecular materials made up of large pi-conjugated molecules is an interesting and complex task. Here we address linear polarizabilities, and the related dielectric constant, of molecular crystals and…
Nematic liquid crystals have been known for more than a century, but it was not until the 60s-70s that, with the development of room temperature nematics, they became widely used in applications. Polar nematic phases have been long-time…
A promising approach of designing mesostructured materials with novel physical behavior is to combine unique optical and electronic properties of solid nanoparticles with long-range ordering and facile response of soft matter to weak…