Advanced Materials, Vol.22, No.5, 622-622, 2010
Nanoparticle-Dispersed Liquid Crystals Fabricated by Sputter Doping
A simple and robust method to prepare nanciparticle-dispersed liquid crystals is demonstrated. Highly dispersed gold nanoparticle-liquid crystal suspensions are fabricated by simply sputter doping the gold target on the host liquid crystal (see figure). The existence of the nanoparticles is supported by optical extinction measurements, polarization optical microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. An improvement in the electro-optic response, namely, a decrease in the threshold voltage, is also demonstrated in twist nematic devices fabricated using the nanoparticle-dispersed liquid crystal.