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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Preparation of Liquid Crystal Networks for Macroscopic Oscillatory Motion Induced by Light
Published on: September 20, 2017
Light-driven oscillations of entangled nematic colloidal chains
M Gomilšek1, D Seč, M Skarabot
1Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Abstract:
Laser tweezers have been used to drive the oscillations of a chain of entangled colloidal particles in the nematic liquid crystal 5CB. The amplitude and phase of light-driven oscillations have been determined for the motion of individual colloidal particles. The collective motion of 4.8μm silica particles is highly damped for a driving frequency above 0.5Hz. The results were compared to an effective bead-spring model, where the motion of elastically coupled particles is hindered by viscous damping and hydrodynamic coupling. Qualitative agreement between theory and experiment was obtained.
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