Kent State University

Andrii B Golovin

Oleg D Lavrentovich

Mingxia Gu

Jong-Chan Lee

Sergij V Shiyanovskii

Tod L Schneider

Liubov Kreminska

Electrically reconfigurable metamaterial with spatially varied refractive index is proposed for applications such as optical devices and lenses. The apparatus and method comprises a metamaterial in which the refractive indices are modified in space and time by applying one or more electric fields. The metamaterials are electrically controllable and reconfigurable, and consist of metal (gold, silver, etc.) particles of different shapes, such as rods, with dimension much smaller than the wavelength of light, dispersed in a dielectric medium. The metamaterial is controlled by applying a non-uniform electric field that causes two effects: (1) It aligns the metallic anisometric particles with respect to the direction of the applied electric field and (2) It redistributes particles in space, making their local concentration position dependent.

Methods and apparatus for controlling dispersions of nanoparticles

A liquid crystalline optical medium includes polymer stabilized liquid crystal material. The polymer stabilized liquid crystal material includes a short pitch cholesteric liquid crystal material stabilized by a polymer material. The effective phase retardation of the polarization independent liquid crystal optical medium can be controlled by external (for example, electric and magnetic) fields.

Electronically-controllable polarization independent liquid crystal optical medium and devices using same

The present invention comprises a device and method for ordering molecules of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals to aligned structure of a dried film. An example of an aligned film may be transparent to visible light but not transparent to polarized light in the ultraviolet and/or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A shearing device having a shearing tool and a repelling pad may repel the solvent and provide a shear force to shear the LCLC dissolved in the solvent as a film on the surface of a substrate. A method of making an aligned lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal-based film comprises providing a mixture of a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal material in a solvent for the liquid crystal material, applying the mixture to a substrate, shearing the lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal with a shearing device and removing the solvent to produce an aligned lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal-based film.

Methods and apparatus to produce aligned film of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals

A method for fast switching a dual frequency (FIG.) liquid crystal cell is disclosed. The liquid crystal cell has opposed substrates () with a dual frequency liquid crystal material () disposed therebetween. Each substrate has an electrode that is connected to a power supply () that is able to apply different voltage magnitudes at different frequencies. And each substrate () has an alignment layer that imparts a high pretilt angle to the liquid crystal material, wherein no application of voltage results in the material exhibiting an initial state. A transition driving pulse () of a first magnitude is applied to the material at a first frequency to accelerate a transition into a first state from the initial state. A holding pulse () of a second magnitude is applied to the material at the first frequency to maintain the first state, wherein the second magnitude is less than the first magnitude.

Fast switching dual-frequency liquid crystal cells and method for driving the same

An aligned film comprises a dried mixture of a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal material and a dopant selected from the group consisting of dyes having a molecular weight within one order of magnitude of the liquid crystal material and block co-polymers. An example of an aligned film may be transparent to visible light but not transparent to polarized light in the ultraviolet and/or infra-red portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A method of making an aligned lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal-based film comprises providing a mixture of a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal material and a dopant in a solvent for the liquid crystal material, applying the mixture to a substrate, and removing the solvent to produce an aligned lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal-based film.

Growing community of inventors

Kent, OH, United States of America

Andrii B Golovin