Abstract: Method of preparing a quantum rod nanocomposite, the method involving: combining a CdSe/CdS quantum rod, a metal ion catalyst, and a zinc precursor thereby forming a CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod, wherein 0?X<1; optionally purifying the CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod; combining the CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod with an inorganic oxide precursor thereby forming an inorganic oxide encapsulated CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod, wherein the CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod is at least partially encapsulated by an inorganic oxide coating; and optionally combining the inorganic oxide encapsulated CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod with a binder thereby forming a binder coated inorganic oxide encapsulated CdSe/CdxZn1-xS/ZnS quantum rod and curing the binder thereby forming the quantum rod nanocomposite.

Abstract: A ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) material in a vertically aligned liquid crystal cell, comprising at least one chiral compound and at least one non-chiral liquid crystal compound, with a sub-micron scale helix pitch less than 300 nm, spontaneous polarization greater than 100 nC/cm2, and a tilt angle greater than 38 degrees. The ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) material provides an extremely large Kerr constant in a vertically aligned liquid crystal cell at the communication band of the light and therefore reduces the driving voltage and response time.

Abstract: A dichroic bis-azo biphenyl dye of the following formula: The substituents R1, R2, R3, R4 are alkyl (CnH2n+1) or alkenyl (CnH2n?1) groups with n=1-18. At least one substituent among R1R2R3R4 is different from the other substituents. A benzidine-free method of making a dichroic bis-azo biphenyl dye is provided in which the biphenyl portion of the dye is formed from different first and second mono-azo dyes by a cross-coupling reaction, which may be a Suzuki reaction. A polarizer is formed from a photoaligned layer of the bis-azo biphenyl dye on a substrate and exhibits a dichroic ratio of at least 40. Chemical modification of the photoaligned bis-azo biphenyl dye layer creates a broad-band thin film polarizer with low light scattering and high thermal and photo tolerances.

Abstract: There is provided a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) material for the deformed helix FLC (DHFLC) electro-optical mode devices and shows optimum electro-optical properties including high tilt angle (>38°), and short helix pitch (<120 nm), and spontaneous polarization (>100 nC/cm2) comprising at least two components, wherein at least one FLC component is a chiral compound of Formula (I): particularly: wherein W1 and W2 are chiral groups with polar substituent at chiral centre, A and B are independently N atom or CH groups providing that at least one of A or B is N atom. Other various groups are as defined herein.

Abstract: A nanoparticle film is disclosed. The nanoparticle film comprises a plurality of polymerized liquid crystal monomers having an axis of alignment, and a plurality of nanoparticles disposed in the polymerized liquid crystal monomers. Each of the nanoparticles has a surface modified by a plurality of first ligands and a long axis aligned with the axis of alignment through the plurality of first ligands.

Abstract: A method for production of quantum rods is semiconductor luminescent nanoparticles of elongated shape. The semiconductor luminescent nanoparticles are core-shell nanoparticles, where core is CdSe coated with CdS shell. At the current state of the art, mass production of this type of quantum rods is challenging because of extremely fast growth of wurtzite CdSe seeds serving as the core, especially when the seeds size is below 3.0 nm that is required for synthesis of green emitting QRs. We propose the non-injection method for CdSe-seeds which comprises: preparation of single reaction mixture containing both Cd- and Se-precursors, which is liquid at room temperature: pumping the reaction mixture through the heating zone specially designed to provide highly reproducible and well-controllable residential time (0.1-60 seconds) in a heating chamber, thereby resulting in CdSe seeds with low size distribution and narrow emission bandwidth; synthesis of quantum rods using the prepared CdSe seeds.

Abstract: A method for fabricating quantum rods includes: preparing a Cd-precursor; preparing a S-precursor and CdSe seeds; preparing a Zn-precursor; mixing the S-precursor and the CdSe seeds with the Cd-precursor in a reaction mixture; adding the Zn-precursor to the reaction mixture; stopping the reaction; and performing a purification process to obtain the quantum rods.

Abstract: Various photo-luminescent films and associated methods are enabled. For instance, a photo-luminescent film comprises a substrate layer comprising a plurality of pores, and a composite comprising luminescent nanoparticles disposed in the plurality of pores.

Abstract: A low birefringence ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture composed of at least two components shows birefringence in the range 0.05 to 0.14, which is suitable for the modern display and photonic devices. The cell gap can be tuned from 1.5 ?m to 4 ?m to reduces the fabrication complexity and chromatic distortion by electro-optical modulation. The FLC mixtures can be employed in a wide temperature range. The characteristics of the said FLC mixture can be tuned by tuning the concentration of the constituents of the mixture. The helical pitch of the FLC mixtures can be varied from 100 nm to 10 ?m. A smectic tilt angle can be varied between 17° to 45° and the spontaneous polarization can be tuned over a wide range to meet requirements of different electro-optical modes, and the FLC mixture is applicable for a wide variety of electro-optical effects.

Abstract: A nanoparticle film is disclosed. The nanoparticle film comprises a plurality of polymerized liquid crystal monomers having an axis of alignment, and a plurality of nanoparticles disposed in the polymerized liquid crystal monomers. Each of the nanoparticles has a surface modified by a plurality of first ligands and a long axis aligned with the axis of alignment through the plurality of first ligands.

Abstract: A method for fabricating quantum rods includes: preparing a Cd-precursor; preparing a S-precursor and CdSe seeds; preparing a Zn-precursor; mixing the S-precursor and the CdSe seeds with the Cd-precursor in a reaction mixture; adding the Zn-precursor to the reaction mixture; stopping the reaction; and performing a purification process to obtain the quantum rods.

Abstract: A low birefringence ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture composed of at least two components shows birefringence in the range 0.05 to 0.14, which is suitable for the modern display and photonic devices. The cell gap can be tuned from 1.5 ?m to 4 ?m to reduces the fabrication complexity and chromatic distortion by electro-optical modulation. The FLC mixtures can be employed in a wide temperature range. The characteristics of the said FLC mixture can be tuned by tuning the concentration of the constituents of the mixture. The helical pitch of the FLC mixtures can be varied from 100 nm to 10 ?m. A smectic tilt angle can be varied between 17° to 45° and the spontaneous polarization can be tuned over a wide range to meet requirements of different electro-optical modes, and the FLC mixture is applicable for a wide variety of electro-optical effects.

Abstract: A polymer film with aligned geometrically anisotropic nanostructures includes: an alignment layer; and a mixture of liquid crystal polymer and geometrically anisotropic nanostructures. Methods for aligning geometrically anisotropic nanostructures and for optically manipulating geometrically anisotropic nanostructures are also provided.