Measuring How Liquid-Crystal Molecules Twist and Bend (IMAGE)

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Measuring How Liquid-Crystal Molecules Twist and Bend

Caption

Researchers examined the spiral 'twist-bend' structure (right) formed by boomerang-shaped liquid crystal molecules (left and center) measuring 3 nanometers in length, using a pioneering X-ray technique at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source. A better understanding of this spiral form, discovered in 2013, could lead to new applications for liquid crystals and improved liquid-crystal display screens.

Credit

(Credit: Zosia Rostomian/Berkeley Lab; <i>Physical Review Letters</i>, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.147803; Journal of Materials Chemistry C, DOI: 10.1039/C4TC01927J)

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