Nematic colloids, topology and photonics
Open Access
- 13 April 2013
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
- Vol. 371 (1988), 20120266
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2012.0266
Abstract
We review and discuss recent progress in the field of nematic colloids, with an emphasis on possible future applications in photonics. The role of the topology is described, based on experimental manipulations of the topological defects in nematic colloids. The topology of the ordering field in nematics provides the forces between colloidal particles that are unique to these materials. We also discuss recent progress in the new field of active microphotonic devices based on liquid crystals (LCs), where chiral nematic microlasers and tuneable nematic microresonators are just two of the recently discovered examples. We conclude that the combination of topology and microphotonic devices based on LCs provides an interesting platform for future progress in the field of LCs.This publication has 51 references indexed in Scilit:
- 3D microlasers from self-assembled cholesteric liquid-crystal microdropletsOptics Express, 2010
- Electrically tunable liquid crystal optical microresonatorsNature Photonics, 2009
- Vortexlike Topological Defects in Nematic Colloids: Chiral Colloidal Dimers and 2D CrystalsPhysical Review Letters, 2009
- Interactions of quadrupolar nematic colloidsPhysical Review E, 2008
- Massively parallel manipulation of single cells and microparticles using optical imagesNature, 2005
- Separation-Independent Attractive Force between Like Particles Mediated by Nematic-Liquid-Crystal DistortionsPhysical Review Letters, 2005
- Defect Structure around Two Colloids in a Liquid CrystalPhysical Review Letters, 2003
- Ultra-high-Q toroid microcavity on a chipNature, 2003
- Director structure around a colloid particle suspended in a nematic liquid crystalPhysical Review E, 1996
- The topological theory of defects in ordered mediaReviews of Modern Physics, 1979