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Preparation of Liquid Crystal Networks for Macroscopic Oscillatory Motion Induced by Light
Published on: September 20, 2017
Levitation, lift, and bidirectional motion of colloidal particles in an electrically driven nematic liquid crystal
O P Pishnyak1, S Tang, J R Kelly
1Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
Abstract:
We study electric-field-induced dynamics of colloids in a nematic cell, experimentally and by computer simulations. Solid particles in the nematic bulk create director distortions of dipolar type. Elastic repulsion from the walls keeps the particles in the middle of cell. The ac electric field reorients the dipoles and lifts them to top or bottom, depending on dipole orientation. Once near the walls, the colloids are carried along two antiparallel horizontal directions by nematic backflow. Computer simulations of the backflow agree with the experiment.
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