| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N18321/01 |
| Title: |
LIQUID CRYSTALS, MICROWAVES AND SURFACE MODES |
| Principal Investigator: |
Sambles, Professor Sir JR |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Physics |
| Organisation: |
University of Exeter |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 April 2000 |
Ends: |
31 March 2002 |
Value (£): |
159,310
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Materials Characterisation |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The displays industry has been dominated by voltage controlled liquid crystals. By contrast the use of liquid crystals with microwaves has been severely limited, primarily because there has been no convenient manner in which to control microwaves with such thin layers. Recently we have discovered that narrow-deep-grooved metals gratings support coupled surface modes which allow them to act as microwave transmission filters. With the electrical polarisation of the incident field orthogonal to the grooves strong selective resonance transmission is readily achieved.In structures having grooves of less than 50 microns width we will place well-aligned, voltage controlled, liquid crystals. Small electric fields will reorientate the liquid crystal, thereby changing the microwave characteristics of the structure. For a grating pitch less than half the wavelength of the incident radiation it will be zero-order with no diffracted beams. The response is then simply that of a tunable microwave filter. As far as we are aware this combined use of voltage controlled liquid crystals and microwaves is totally original and opens up potential for new low voltage controlled structures. The programme of research will be strongly linked with our collaborators at DERA who will develop new prototype devices.
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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 |
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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.ex.ac.uk |