The proposed research is concerned with the study of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLC). A program of research is proposed that includes FLC microscopic modeling, chemical synthesis, and material evaluation. The proposed studies are directed toward understanding how molecules self organize in liquid crystal phases, and toward developing new FLCs for electro-optic and nonlinear optic applications. These studies are significant because there are opportunities to advance the basic physics and material design of liquid crystals, and to develop new liquid crystal materials for electro-optic and nonlinear optic applications. This Materials Synthesis and Processing proposal has been funded jointly by the Division of Materials Research and the Chemistry Division.
