Liquid crystals for fast switching devices
The photo shows the cells on the modified sample holder which was used in the real experiment. This modified sample holder is mounted within the ALICE chamber at BESSY II. © A. Smekhova/HZB
Schematic representation of the EZL10/10 molecule: a 3D model and the structural formula.
© Soft Matter, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01543E
An international team has investigated a newly synthesized liquid-crystalline material that promises applications in optoelectronics. Simple rod-shaped molecules with a single center of chirality self-assemble into helical structures at room temperature. Using soft X-ray resonant scattering at BESSY II, the scientists have now been able to determine the pitch of the helical structure with high precision. Their results indicate an extremely short pitch at only about 100 nanometres which would enable applications with particularly fast switching processes.
Liquid crystals are not solid, but some of their physical properties are directional - like in a crystal. This is because their molecules can arrange themselves into certain patterns. The best-known applications include flat screens and digital displays. They are based on pixels of liquid crystals whose optical properties can be switched by electric fields.
Some liquid crystals form the so-called cholesteric phases: the molecules self-assemble into helical structures, which are characterised by pitch and rotate either to the right or to the left. "The pitch of the cholesteric spirals determines how quickly they react to an applied electric field," explains Dr. Alevtina Smekhova, physicist at HZB and first author of the study, which has now been published in Soft Matter.
Simple molecular chain
In this work, she and partners from the Academies of Sciences in Prague, Moscow and Chernogolovka investigated a liquid crystalline cholesteric compound called EZL10/10, developed in Prague. "Such cholesteric phases are usually formed by molecules with several chiral centres, but here the molecule has only one chiral centre," explains Dr. Smekhova. It is a simple molecular chain with one lactate unit.
Ultrashort pitch
At BESSY II, the team has now examined this compound with soft X-ray light and determined the pitch and space ordering of the spirals. This was the shortest up-to-date reported value of the pitch: only 104 nanometres! This is twice as short as the previously known pitch of spiral structures in liquid crystals. Further analysis showed that in this material the cholesteric spirals form domains with characteristic lengths of about five pitches.
Outlook
"This very short pitch makes the material unique and promising for optoelectronic devices with very fast switching times," Dr. Smekhova points out. In addition, the EZ110/10 compound is thermally and chemically stable and can easily be further varied to obtain structures with customised pitch lengths.
Note:
Dr. Alevtina Smekhova is working at HZB with an emphasis on metrological measurements, data standardization and to the goal, among others, to bring new users to BESSY II for the synchrotron-based research on advanced materials (Energy Materials, Quantum Materials, Information and Communication Technology Materials).
- BESSY II: Phosphorous chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties of a material through a highly refined experimental process. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- Did marine life in the palaeocene use a compass?Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and navigate across the ocean. The method offers a powerful tool for magnetically testing whether putative biological iron oxide particles in Mars samples have a biogenic origin.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.