15,596 research outputs found
Biaxial order parameter in the homologous series of orthogonal bent-core smectic liquid crystals
The fundamental parameter of the uniaxial liquid crystalline state that governs nearly all of its physical properties is the primary orientational order parameter (S) for the long axes of molecules with respect to the director. The biaxial liquid crystals (LCs) possess biaxial order parameters depending on the phase symmetry of the system. In this paper we show that in the first approximation a biaxial orthogonal smectic phase can be described by two primary order parameters: S for the long axes and C for the ordering of the short axes of molecules. The temperature dependencies of S and C are obtained by the Haller's extrapolation technique through measurements of the optical birefringence and biaxiality on a nontilted polar antiferroelectric (Sm-APA) phase of a homologous series of LCs built from the bent-core achiral molecules. For such a biaxial smectic phase both S and C, particularly the temperature dependency of the latter, are being experimentally determined. Results show that S in the orthogonal smectic phase composed of bent cores is higher than in Sm-A calamatic LCs and C is also significantly large
Globular Structures of a Helix-Coil Copolymer: Self-Consistent Treatment
A self-consistent field theory was developed in the grand-canonical ensemble
formulation to study transitions in a helix-coil multiblock globule. Helical
and coil parts are treated as stiff rods and self-avoiding walks of variable
lengths correspondingly. The resulting field-theory takes, in addition to the
conventional Zimm-Bragg (B.H. Zimm, I.K. Bragg, J. Chem. Phys. 31, 526 (1959))
parameters, also three-dimensional interaction terms into account. The
appropriate differential equations which determine the self-consistent fields
were solved numerically with finite element method. Three different phase
states are found: open chain, amorphous globule and nematic liquid-crystalline
(LC) globule. The LC-globule formation is driven by the interplay between the
hydrophobic helical segments attraction and the anisotropic globule surface
energy of an entropic nature. The full phase diagram of the helix-coil
copolymer was calculated and thoroughly discussed. The suggested theory shows a
clear interplay between secondary and tertiary structures in globular
homopolypeptides.Comment: 26 pages, 30 figures, corrected some typo
Current dependence of grain boundary magnetoresistance in La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO_3 films
We prepared epitaxial ferromagnetic manganite films on bicrystal substrates
by pulsed laser ablation. Their low- and high-field magnetoresistance (MR) was
measured as a function of magnetic field, temperature and current. At low
temperatures hysteretic changes in resistivity up to 70% due to switching of
magnetic domains at the coercitive field are observed. The strongly non-ohmic
behavior of the current-voltage leads to a complete suppression of the MR
effect at high bias currents with the identical current dependence at low and
high magnetic fields. We discuss the data in view of tunneling and mesoscale
magnetic transport models and propose an explicit dependence of the spin
polarization on the applied current in the grain boundary region.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in J. Appl. Phy
The role of string-like, supramolecular assemblies in reentrant supernematic liquid crystals
Using a combination of isothermal-isobaric Monte Carlo and microcanonical
molecular dynamics we investigate the relation between structure and
self-diffusion in various phases of a model liquid crystal using the
Gay-Berne-Kihara potential. These molecules are confined to a mesoscopic
slit-pore with atomically smooth substrate surfaces. As reported recently [see
M. G. Mazza {\em et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 227802 (2010)], a
reentrant nematic (RN) phase may form at sufficiently high pressures/densities.
This phase is characterized by a high degree of nematic order and a
substantially enhanced self-diffusivity in the direction of the director
which exceeds that of the lower-density nematic and an
intermittent smectic A phase by about an order of magnitude. Here we
demonstrate that the unique transport behavior in the RN phase may be linked to
a confinement-induced packing effect which causes the formation of
supramolecular, string-like conformations. The strings consist of several
individual molecules that are capable of travelling in the direction of
as individual "trains" consisting of chains of molecular "cars".
Individual trains run in parallel and may pass each other at sufficiently high
pressures.Comment: 24 page
Phase behavior of the Confined Lebwohl-Lasher Model
The phase behavior of confined nematogens is studied using the Lebwohl-Lasher
model. For three dimensional systems the model is known to exhibit a
discontinuous nematic-isotropic phase transition, whereas the corresponding two
dimensional systems apparently show a continuous
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless like transition. In this paper we study the
phase transitions of the Lebwohl-Lasher model when confined between planar
slits of different widths in order to establish the behavior of intermediate
situations between the pure planar model and the three-dimensional system, and
compare with previous estimates for the critical thickness, i.e. the slit width
at which the transition switches from continuous to discontinuous.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review
41Ca in tooth enamel. part I: A biological signature of neutron exposure in atomic bomb survivors
The detection of 41Ca atoms in tooth enamel using accelerator mass spectrometry is suggested as a method capable of reconstructing thermal neutron exposures from atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In general, 41Ca atoms are produced via thermal neutron capture by stable 40Ca. Thus any 41Ca atoms present in the tooth enamel of the survivors would be due to neutron exposure from both natural sources and radiation from the bomb. Tooth samples from five survivors in a control group with negligible neutron exposure were used to investigate the natural 41Ca content in tooth enamel, and 16 tooth samples from 13 survivors were used to estimate bomb-related neutron exposure. The results showed that the mean 41Ca/Ca isotope ratio was (0.17 ± 0.05) × 10-14 in the control samples and increased to 2 × 10-14 for survivors who were proximally exposed to the bomb. The 41Ca/Ca ratios showed an inverse correlation with distance from the hypocenter at the time of the bombing, similar to values that have been derived from theoretical free-in-air thermal-neutron transport calculations. Given that γ-ray doses were determined earlier for the same tooth samples by means of electron spin resonance (ESR, or electron paramagnetic resonance, EPR), these results can serve to validate neutron exposures that were calculated individually for the survivors but that had to incorporate a number of assumptions (e.g. shielding conditions for the survivors).Fil: Wallner, A.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; Alemania. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: Ruhm, W.. Helmholtz Center Munich German Research Center For Environmental Health; Alemania. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Rugel, G.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; Alemania. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Nakamura, N.. Radiation Effects Research Foundation; JapónFil: Arazi, Andres. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Faestermann, T.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Knie, K.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Maier, H. J.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Korschinek, G.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemani
Perdeuterated cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals for infrared applications
Perdeuterated 4'-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (D5CB) was synthesized and its physical properties evaluated and compared to those of 5CB. D5CB retains physical properties similar to those of 5CB, such as phase transition temperatures, dielectric constants, and refractive indices. An outstanding feature of D5CB is that it exhibits a much cleaner and reduced infrared absorption. Perdeuteration, therefore, extends the usable range of liquid crystals to the mid infrared by significantly reducing the absorption in the near infrared, which is essential for telecom applications
Entropy-driven enhanced self-diffusion in confined reentrant supernematics
We present a molecular dynamics study of reentrant nematic phases using the
Gay-Berne-Kihara model of a liquid crystal in nanoconfinement. At densities
above those characteristic of smectic A phases, reentrant nematic phases form
that are characterized by a large value of the nematic order parameter
. Along the nematic director these "supernematic" phases exhibit a
remarkably high self-diffusivity which exceeds that for ordinary, lower-density
nematic phases by an order of magnitude. Enhancement of self-diffusivity is
attributed to a decrease of rotational configurational entropy in confinement.
Recent developments in the pulsed field gradient NMR technique are shown to
provide favorable conditions for an experimental confirmation of our
simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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