Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals

This book by Lev M. Blinov is ideal to guide researchers from their very first encounter with liquid crystals to the level where they can perform independent experiments on liquid crystals with a thorough understanding of their behaviour also in relation to the theoretical framework. Liquid crystals can be found everywhere around us. They are used in virtually every display device, whether it is for domestic appliances of for specialized technological instruments. Their finely tunable optical properties make them suitable also for thermo-sensing and laser technologies. There are many monographs written by prominent scholars on the subject of liquid crystals. The majority of them presents the subject in great depth, sometimes focusing on a particular research aspect, and in general they require a significant level of prior knowledge. In contrast, this books aims at an audience of advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry and materials science. The book consists of three parts: the first part, on structure, starts from the fundamental principles underlying the structure of liquid crystals, their rich phase behaviour and the methods used to study them; the second part, on physical properties, emphasizes the influence of anisotropy on all aspects of liquid crystals behaviour; the third, focuses on electro-optics, the most important properties from the applications standpoint. This part covers only the main effects and illustrates the underlying principles in greater detail. Professor Lev M. Blinov has had a long carrier as an experimentalist. He made major contributions in the field of ferroelectric mesophases. In 1985 he received the USSR state prize for investigations of electro-optical effects in liquid crystals for spatial light modulators. In 1999 he was awarded the Frederiks medal of the Soviet Liquid Crystal Society and in 2000 he was honoured with the G. Gray silver medal of the British Liquid Crystal Society. He has held many visiting academic positions in universities and laboratories across Europe and in Japan.

Table of Contents:
Foreword - Introduction - Literature Part I. STRUCTURE OF LIQUID CRYSTALS Chapter 1. Symmetry1.1 Point group symmetry1.2 Translational symmetry Chapter 2. Mesogenic Molecules and Orientational Order2.1 Molecular shape and properties2.2 Intermolecular interactions 2.3 Orientational distribution functions for molecules2.4 Principal orientational order parameter (microscopic approach)2.5 Macroscopic definition of the orientational order parameter.2.5 Apparent order parameters for flexible chains Chapter 3. Liquid Crystal Phases3.1 Polymorphism studies3.2 Main calamitic phases3.3 Discotic and bowl-type phases3.4 Role of polymerization3.5 Lyotropic phases3.6 General remarks on the role of chirality 3.7 Cholesterics3.8 Blue phases3.9 Chiral smectic C* phase3.10 Chiral smectic A*3.11 Spontaneous break of mirror symmetry Chapter 4. Principles of Structure Analysis and X-ray Diffraction 4.1 Diffraction studies and X-ray experiment4.1 X-ray scattering4.3 Diffraction on a periodic structure4.4 Fourier transforms and diffraction4.5 X-ray Diffraction by Crystals4.6 Diffraction by the isotropic and nematic phase4.7 Diffraction by smectic phases Chapter 5. Phase Transitions5.1 Landau approach5.2 Isotropic liquid -- nematic transition5.3 Nematic-Smectic A transition5.4 Smectic A -- Smectic C transition5.5 Dynamics of order parameter5.6 Molecular Statistic Approach to Phase Transitions5.7 Nematic-isotropic transition (molecular approach)5.8 Phase transitions in magn. & el. fields Part II. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES Chapter 6. Magnetic, Electric and Transport Properties6.1 Magnetic phenomena6.2 Dielectric properties6.3 Transport propertiesChapter 7. Elasticity and Defects7.1 Tensor of elasticity7.2 Elasticity of nematics and cholesterics7.3 Variational problem and elastic torque7.4 Defects in nematics and cholesterics7.5 Smectic phases Chapter 8. Elements of Hydrodynamics8.1 Hydrodynamic variables8.2 Hydrodynamics of isotropic liquids8.3 Viscosity of nematics 8.3 Flow in cholesterics and smecticsChapter 9. Liquid Crystal -- Solid Interface. 9.1 General properties of interfaces9.2 Surface energy and anchoring of nematics9.3 Liquid crystal alignment Part III. ELECTRO-OPTICS Chapter 10. Optics and Field Effects in Nematic and Smectic A Liquid Crystals10.1 Optical properties of uniaxial phases10.2 Fredericks transition10.3 Flexoelectricity10.4 Electrohydrodynamic instability Chapter 11. Electro-Optical Effects in Cholesteric Phase11.1 Cholesteric as one-dimensional photonic crystal11.2 Field instabilities of cholesterics11.3 Bistability and memory11.4 Flexoelectricity in cholestericsChapter 12. Ferroelectricity and anti-ferroelectricity12.1 Crystalline ferroelectrics12.2 Ferroelectric cells with a non-ferroelectric liquid crystal?12.3 Phase transition SmA*-SmC* 12.4 Electro-optical effects in ferroelectric cells.12.5 Anti-ferroelectrics Subject index.

Review :
From the reviews: "Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals discusses the theoretical concepts necessary to understand the liquid-crystal phase from the perspective of an experimentalist. All the necessary theory is there for a wide range of topics in the physics of liquid crystals. ... Line drawings are used throughout the text to help with the explanations, as are simple analogies and references to familiar concepts. The book is certainly suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students ... . truly useful addition to the pedagogical literature on liquid crystals." (Peter Collings, Physics Today, August, 2011)