| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/L49284/01 |
| Title: |
A STUDY OF STRUCTURE AND SWITCHING ANTI-FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL MATERIALS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Elston, Professor SJ |
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| Department: |
Engineering Science |
| Organisation: |
University of Oxford |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 November 1997 |
Ends: |
30 April 2001 |
Value (£): |
199,934
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Energy Efficiency |
Materials Characterisation |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Communications |
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) materials have considerable potential for the development of advanced low power consumption high information content light weight display systems. This proposal aims to develop the necessary understanding of the materials to enable this potential to be realised. We will study, in collaboration with SHARP (the world's largest LCD manufacturer), the fundamental alignment and switching properties of the materials, and also develop modelling in order to understand both. This will involve a range of scientific techniques, including stroboscopic polarised microscopy, guided mode techniques (using both homeotropic and homogeneous alignment), and computer numerical modelling. Experiments will be undertaken to study the fundamental switching properties of the materials, in both the electroclinic-like and full reorientation regimes, using homeotropic alignment (to remove surface stabilisation) and homogeneous surface stabilised alignment. Additionally we will use x-ray analysis of the smectic layer thickness in order to understand if incommensurability plays a role in the difficulty of aligning AFLC materials. Theory will be developed which includes both Landau energy terms and elastic terms in order to understand the processes taking place. Using this we will aim to understand both the alignment and switching in AFLC device structures.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ox.ac.uk |