Liquid crystals : physical properties and nonlinear optical phenomena

The latest edition of the leading resource on the properties and applications of liquid crystals In the newly revised Third Edition of Liquid Crystals, Professor Iam Choon Khoo delivers a comprehensive treatment of the fundamentals and applied aspects of optical physics, light scattering, electro-optics, and non-linear optics of liquid crystals. The book's opening chapters include coverage of the foundational physics and optical properties of liquid crystals and lead to more advanced content on the display, photonics and nonlinear optics applications of liquid crystals. New topics, including photonic crystals, metamaterials, ultrafast nonlinear optics, and fabrication methods for massive cholesteric and blue phase liquid crystals are discussed at length. Analytical methods and experimental observations of nonlinear light propagation through liquid crystalline and anisotropic materials and devices are also discussed. Liquid Crystals offers an insightful and unique treatment of the nonlinear optics of liquid crystals. New and expanded sections round out this new edition and add to the most up-to-date resource on this topic available today. The book also includes: A thorough introduction to liquid crystals, including their molecular structures, chemical compositions, order parameter, phase transition, and free energies Practical discussions of nematic, cholesteric, smectic, and ferroelectric liquid crystals, and explorations of linear and nonlinear light scattering in these phases. A detailed quantum mechanical treatment of the linear and nonlinear electronic optical response of liquid crystal molecules to optical fields. A self-contained discussion of the fundamentals of nonlinear optics/photonics and comprehensive review of all liquid crystalline materials-based nonlinear optical processes and applications. The latest edition of Liquid Crystals is an indispensable resource for graduate students, professors, research scientists and engineers in industrial or government laboratories. It's also an ideal reference for anyone seeking a one-stop textbook with complete coverage of the optical, electro-optical, and non-linear optical properties and processes of liquid crystals.

The latest edition of the leading resource on the properties and applications of liquid crystals

In the newly revised Third Edition of Liquid Crystals, Professor Iam Choon Khoo delivers a comprehensive treatment of the fundamentals and applied aspects of optical physics, light scattering, electro-optics, and non-linear optics of liquid crystals. The book's opening chapters include coverage of the foundational physics and optical properties of liquid crystals and lead to more advanced content on the display, photonics and nonlinear optics applications of liquid crystals.

New topics, including photonic crystals, metamaterials, ultrafast nonlinear optics, and fabrication methods for massive cholesteric and blue phase liquid crystals are discussed at length. Analytical methods and experimental observations of nonlinear light propagation through liquid crystalline and anisotropic materials and devices are also discussed.

Liquid Crystals offers an insightful and unique treatment of the nonlinear optics of liquid crystals. New and expanded sections round out this new edition and add to the most up-to-date resource on this topic available today. The book also includes:

• A thorough introduction to liquid crystals, including their molecular structures, chemical compositions, order parameter, phase transition, and free energies
• Practical discussions of nematic, cholesteric, smectic, and ferroelectric liquid crystals, and explorations of linear and nonlinear light scattering in these phases.
• A detailed quantum mechanical treatment of the linear and nonlinear electronic optical response of liquid crystal molecules to optical fields.
• A self-contained discussion of the fundamentals of nonlinear optics/photonics and comprehensive review of all liquid crystalline materials-based nonlinear optical processes and applications.

The latest edition of Liquid Crystals is an indispensable resource for graduate students, professors, research scientists and engineers in industrial or government laboratories. It's also an ideal reference for anyone seeking a one-stop textbook with complete coverage of the optical, electro-optical, and non-linear optical properties and processes of liquid crystals.

"Liquid Crystals offers readers a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the basic principles underlying the unique physical and optical properties of liquid crystals. Written by an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of nonlinear optics specializing in the nonlinear optics of liquid crystals, it also affords readers a rare opportunity to benefit from a leading expert's considerable professional insights into the mechanisms and theoretical principles behind nonlinear optical phenomena occurring in liquid crystals."--BOOK JACKET. "The first part of Liquid Crystals is devoted to the physical properties of the thermotropic liquid crystals. Following a discussion of their molecular and chemical structures, the author delves into all major theoretical aspects of their isotropic and liquid crystalline phases. Receiving special attention are physical parameters such as order parameters, elastic constant, Free energy, viscosity and flows, refractive indices, and birefringence. Relatively new materials such as polymeric liquid crystals, polymer dispersed liquid crystals, dye-doped liquid crystals, and ferroelectric liquid crystals are explored in detail, as are light scatterings, including Raman, Brillouin, Rayleigh, and Rayleigh Wing scatterings."--BOOK JACKET. "The second part of Liquid Crystals is concerned with nonlinear optical phenomena - especially nonlinear optical responses of liquid crystals to light and laser fields. In this section, Professor Khoo explores all the known mechanisms for optical nonlinearities in the principal mesophases of liquid crystals; introduces the basic principles, phenomena, and terminology in nonlinear optics; and provides a comprehensive summary of the major nonlinear optical phenomena observed in liquid crystals to date."--BOOK JACKET. "The first concise yet all-inclusive introduction to the subject, Liquid Crystals functions equally well as an upper-level student text for optical engineering courses and a basic reference for researchers in optical engineering."--Jacket "Liquid crystals are a phase of matter whose order is intermediate between that of a liquid and that of a crystal. The molecules are typically rod-shaped organic moieties about 25 Angstroms in length and their ordering is a function of temperature. The nematic phase, for example, is characterized by the orientational order of the constituent molecules. The molecular orientation (and hence the material's optical properties) can be controlled with applied electric fields. Liquid crystal science and applications permeate many segments of society from large industrial displays to individual homes and offices. Non-display applications in nonlinear optics, optical communication and data/signal/image are receiving increasing attention and are growing at a rapid pace"-- Provided by publisher