Dielectric materials play a critical role in determining the operating voltage in modern-day electronics. In particular, highly polarizable and ultrathin dielectrics enable low operating voltages and thus low power consumption.

LCMRC researchers have developed a method for manipulating particles by light without touching them by using liquid crystals as a light-controlled host fluid. The LC host reduces the illumination required by factors up to 10,000X relative to direct manipulation with optical tweezers, to the extent that lasers are no longer needed for many applications. LCMRC designed and synthesized photosensitive azobenzene monolayers control the LC orientation, which in turn moves the particles.

The Triangle MRSEC enjoys a vibrant ongoing partnership with German researchers supported through an International Graduate Research and Training Grant (IGRTG) from the DFG. A significant component of this partnership is extended graduate student exchanges. An example of funded projects is the fundamental modeling of particle gelation by molecular dynamics simulations by Prof. Sabine Klapp (Technical Univ. - Berlin), Carol Hall and Orlin Velev.

Ming Ruan, Yike Hu, James Palmer, Tom Guo, John Hankinson, Rui Dong, Claire Berger, Walt de Heer School of Physics, Georgia Tech

The goal of this seed project is to bring first-principles theory closer to experimental reality by accounting for the finite temperature effects that are essential for describing the behavior of “real-world” materials at their typical operating conditions.

Founded by physical chemists like Flory and brought into the mainstream of theoretical physics by visionaries like de Gennes, over the last eighty years polymer physics has grown into a mature, rich, and exciting discipline. Now expanded to include also colloids, liquid crystals, interfaces, etc, polymer and soft matter physics span fundamental statistical mechanics and field theory, most advanced materials, as well as technological and biological frontiers.