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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Local orientational order in liquids revealed by resonant vibrational energy transfer
M R Panman1, D J Shaw1, B Ensing1
1Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS), University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We demonstrate that local orientational ordering in a liquid can be observed in the decay of the vibrational anisotropy caused by resonant transfer of vibrational excitations between its constituent molecules. We show that the functional form of this decay is determined by the (distribution of) angles between the vibrating bonds of the molecules between which energy transfer occurs, and that the initial drop in the decay reflects the average angle between nearest neighbors. We use this effect to observe the difference in local orientational ordering in the two hydrogen-bonded liquids ethanol and N-methylacetamide.
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