Descripción del proyecto
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL (SUBPROJECT 3) CONSTITUTES ONE OF THE THREE SUBPROJECTS OF A MORE GLOBAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL ENTITLED SELF-ORGANIZED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS. THE MAIN TARGET OF SUBPROJECT 3 CONSISTS IN PERFORMING THE THERMAL AND DIELECTRIC CHARACTERIZATION ON NEW SELF-ORGANIZED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS BASED ON LIQUID CRYSTAL MATERIALS. RANDOM LASERS COME UP AS A NEW TOPIC RAISED FROM OUR EXPERTISE IN LIQUID CRYSTALS CONFINED TO INORGANIC RANDOM NETWORKS. THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIALS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR RANDOM LASERS AS WELL AS THE STUDY OF THEIR EMISSION SPECTRA WILL BE A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR THE RESEARCHERS GATHERED IN THE SUBPROJECT 3 JOINTLY WITH PEOPLE OF SUBPROJECT 2.THE METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSED JUSTIFIES THE OVERALL COORDINATED PROPOSAL. ONE OF THE SUBPROJECTS (SUBPROJECT 1) WILL BE DEVOTED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO THE DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND PREPARATION OF SELF-ORGANIZED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS BASED ON LIQUID CRYSTALS (ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTORS, OPTICAL MATERIALS, NANOSTRUCTURED POROUS MATERIALS). AN IMPORTANT TASK WILL BE THEIR STRUCTURAL, OPTICAL AND DIELECTRIC CHARACTERIZATION. IN SUCH A CASE, THE SUBPROJECT 2 IS ONE OF THE PARTNERS TO CONDUCT AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE WORK TO BE DEVELOPED IN SUCH A TOPIC ALTHOUGH THE DIELECTRIC CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE PLANNED JOINTLY BETWEEN PEOPLE FROM SUBPROJECT 2 AND SUBPROJECT 3. IT MAY BE UNDERLINED THAT ONE PART OF THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION IS DEVOTED TO DEUTERON NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (DNMR) TECHNIQUE, WHICH WILL BE CONDUCTED BY US IN EXTERNAL LABORATORIES (FOR EXAMPLE, THE JOSEF STEFAN INSTITUTE AT LJUBLJANA). THE THERMAL CHARACTERIZATION DESERVES AN ESPECIAL MENTION BECAUSE IT IS EXCLUSIVELY CONDUCTED BY RESEARCHERS OF OUR PROPOSAL. THE MAJOR PART OF THIS THERMAL CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE RUNNING ON CRITICAL PHENOMENA AND QUENCHED RANDOM DISORDER, STABILITY OF THE MESOPHASES AND GLASS BEHAVIOUR. ANOTHER PART, NOT LEAST, IS TO TEST THE CONFINEMENT EFFECTS ON THE ABOVE MENTIONED TOPICS. IT IS WELL KNOW THAT THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A CONFINED LIQUID CRYSTAL CAN BE SLIGHTLY OR SEVERELY MODIFIED DEPENDING ON HOW RESTRICTIVE THE CONFINEMENT IS. THE POSSIBILITY TO SUPPRESS PHASE TRANSITIONS OR TO CHANGE THEIR CHARACTER AS FIRST OR SECOND ORDER, TO VITRIFY LIQUID CRYSTAL MESOPHASES OR ENHANCE GLASSY BEHAVIOUR, TO ACCELERATE MOLECULAR MOTIONS, AND FINALLY, TO INDUCE STRUCTURAL TRANSITIONS (CHANGES IN THE MOLECULAR ALIGNMENT OF LIQUID CRYSTAL MOLECULES) CONSTITUTE TOPICS TO BE STUDIED. IN PARTICULAR, AMONG THE FUNCTIONALITIES THAT CAN BE ENHANCED BY THE CONFINEMENT OF LIQUID CRYSTALS, WE WILL FOCUS ON: TUNABLE RANDOM LASERS AND GLASSY MESOGENS INDUCED BY RANDOM QUENCHED DISORDER. THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIALS FOR TUNABLE RANDOM LASERS WILL FOLLOW TWO STRATEGIES. ONE OF THEM CONSISTS IN COMMERCIAL GLASS-LIKE POWDER PACKED AS SINTERED DISKS GIVING RISE TO RANDOM-TYPE GEOMETRIES WITH INFILTRATED LIQUID CRYSTALS OF OUR CHOICE (NON-LUMINISCENT NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS WITH LASER DYES AND LUMINESCENT NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS). THE SECOND ONE WILL CONSIST IN COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS OF SUB-MICRO MONODISPERSE SPHERULITES IN LIQUID CRYSTALS OF OUR CHOICE AS IN THE FORMER METHOD.THE PROCEDURE TO OBTAIN GLASSY MESOGENS INDUCED BY RANDOM QUENCHED DISORDER WILL CONSIST MAINLY IN COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS OF SUB-MICRO PARTICLES SUCH AS AEROSIL OR ALUMINA.