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Liquid crystals

A missing phase found at last?

Nature volume 430, pages 413–414 (2004)Cite this article

Molecules that form liquid crystals are usually rod-like, but bend them and a new liquid-crystal phase — a biaxial nematic — should form. Strong evidence for the existence of this phase has only now emerged.

Liquid crystals form the basis of several flat-screen display technologies. The alignment of their rod-like molecules, in what is known as the ‘nematic’ phase, can be achieved rapidly and with low voltage. According to theory, these materials should also exist in another nematic phase with potential for use in display applications. In Physical Review Letters, Madsen et al.1 and Acharya et al.2 report firm evidence for this so-called biaxial nematic phase. The announcement has created considerable excitement, for it opens up new areas of both fundamental and applied research. It seems that a Holy Grail of liquid-crystal science has at last been found.

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Figure 1: Nematic phases.

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  1. School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, SO17 1BJ, UK, Southampton

    Geoffrey R. Luckhurst

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  1. Geoffrey R. Luckhurst
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Luckhurst, G. A missing phase found at last?. Nature 430, 413–414 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/430413a

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