Abstract
In the photoalignment of liquid crystals with dissolved dyes or in the presence of dye doped alignment layers, light can cause reorientation of the liquid crystal director against a restoring elastic torque essentially without the transfer of angular momentum. We show that this phenomenon originates in an orientational ratchet mechanism, where, under photoexcitation, the dye molecules act as rotors of a Brownian motor.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1077-1084 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | International Journal of Engineering Science |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2000 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | The Eringen Symposium Dedicated to Pierre-Gilles De Gennes - 36th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineeing Science - Pullman, WA, USA Duration: Sep 27 1998 → Sep 30 1998 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Materials Science(all)
- Engineering(all)
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering