A joint program of research between the Liquid Crystal Laboratory (LICRYL) at the University of Calabria, Italy's largest liquid crystal (LC) research center, and the Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center (FLCMRC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder, an NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), is proposed. The requested funding will enable scientific collaboration on a broad range of forefront liquid crystal research, combining the complementary capabilities of the two Centers into an entity uniquely capable of advancing LC and soft matter science and technology. The collective research expertise will be brought to bear on projects having liquid crystal - light and liquid crystal - interface interactions as the principal overall themes, addressing such key problems as the alignment and anchoring of smectics on surfaces, an area of great technical importance, and the photo-alignment of liquid crystals, a promising route to the development of photo-addressed devices. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity derives from the technological importance of the proposed research, the broad range of fundamental scientific questions to be addressed, and the unique and complementary areas of expertise brought to bear through the joint efforts of the two Centers. The exchange of graduate students will expose young scientists to different research cultures and provide them with technical training in cutting-edge research techniques. The educational benefits of the program will extend beyond the graduate researchers to K-12 students served through the Centers' outreach programs. Given the wide variety of potential applications of the proposed research, it is likely that this collaboration will engender technology transfer to the private sector both in the U.S. and in Italy. %%% The Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center (FLCMRC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder, an NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), is proposing a joint program of research with the Liquid Crystal Laboratory (LICRYL) at the University of Calabria, Italy's largest liquid crystal (LC) research center. The FLCMRC, which is one of the principal centers of liquid crystal expertise in the US and a unique venue worldwide for research on polarity and chirality and their interplay in condensed phases, will use this funding to further develop and enhance a program of joint research and Ph.D. student support begun with Calabria in 1997. The Centers will collaborate on a broad range of forefront liquid crystal research, combining their complementary research capabilities into an entity uniquely capable of advancing liquid crystal and soft matter science and technology, with an emphasis on understanding liquid crystal - substrate interactions and on developing novel optically addressed devices. The broader impacts of the proposed activity in the areas of education and industrial outreach and human resource development will be substantial, augmenting and enhancing ongoing programs at the two Centers such as the CU/UC International Ph.D. Program and the FLCMRC's highly successful Materials Science from CU program of K-12 science enrichment classes. The planned exchange of graduate students provides a unique opportunity for the professional development and cultural enrichment of young researchers, both inside and outside the laboratory. The Centers both have track records of substantive technology transfer, including spin-off commercial ventures producing liquid crystal display products and scientific equipment. Given the wide variety of potential applications of the proposed research, it is likely that this collaboration will engender technology transfer to the private sector both in the U.S. and in Italy in novel LC applications areas of high interest such as ultranonlinear optics, photorefractive effects, device structures created by photopolymerization, and ultra-low power bistable nematic display cells.
