Directed Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystalline Blue-Phases into Ideal Single-Crystals

Martinez-Gonzalez, Jose A.; Li, Xiao; Sadati, Monirosadat; Zhou, Ye; Zhang, Rui; Nealey, Paul F.; de Pablo, Juan J.

doi:10.1038/ncomms15854

Directed Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystalline Blue-Phases into Ideal Single-Crystals

Journal Article · Fri Jun 16 04:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15854· OSTI ID:1372057

Martinez-Gonzalez, Jose A. ^[1]; Li, Xiao ^[2]; Sadati, Monirosadat ^[2]; Zhou, Ye ^[2]; Zhang, Rui ^[2]; Nealey, Paul F. ^[1]; de Pablo, Juan J. ^[1]

Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Inst. for Molecular Engineering; Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Material Science Division
Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Inst. for Molecular Engineering

Chiral nematic liquid crystals are known to form blue phases—liquid states of matter that exhibit ordered cubic arrangements of topological defects. Blue-phase specimens, however, are generally polycrystalline, consisting of randomly oriented domains that limit their performance in applications. A strategy that relies on nano-patterned substrates is presented here for preparation of stable, macroscopic single-crystal blue-phase materials. Different template designs are conceived to exert control over different planes of the blue-phase lattice orientation with respect to the underlying substrate. Experiments are then used to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to create stable single-crystal blue-phase domains with the desired orientation over large regions. Lastly, these results provide a potential avenue to fully exploit the electro-optical properties of blue phases, which have been hindered by the existence of grain boundaries.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22); University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States). Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1372057

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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