Georgiy Tkachenko obtained his MSc in Lasers and Optoelectronic Techniques form the Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics (Ukraine) in 2007. He carried out his PhD studies at the same university working on tunable optical filters based on porous silicon multilayer films infiltrated with nematic liquid crystals. The degree in Optics and Laser Physics was granted to him in 2012. While working at the University of Bordeaux (France), he has realized a series of quantitative experimental studies on optical radiation forces controlled by the interplay between the chirality of matter and the chirality of optical fields. Georgiy joined the group in September 2014 as a research fellow working on optical trapping and rotation of microscopic particles in viscous environments. Georgiy left the group in May 2017 to take up a position at OIST.
PrefaceLiquid crystal technology is a subject of many advanced areas of science and engineering. It is commonly associated with liquid crystal displays applied in calculators, watches, mobile phones, digital cameras, monitors etc. But nowadays liquid crystals find more and more use in photonics, telecommunications, medicine and other fields. Accordingly, first half of this book is dedicated to fundamental properties of liquid crystals, while Chapters 7-12 give a picture of recent trends in the sphere of liquid crystal displays and light modulators.Development of tunable photonic devices is very promising field of use for liquid crystals. Chapters 1 and 2 are focused on one-and two-dimensional photonic crystals whose optical properties are tuned by means of thermal, electrical or optical influence upon the infiltrated liquid crystals. Special attention is paid to infiltration efficiency and the molecule equilibrium organization within hollows of the host material. Chapter 3 presents the study of electrically tunable magneto-optical effects in magnetophotonic crystals filled with nematic liquid crystals.Chapter 4 demonstrates the use of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator for simulation of atmospheric turbulence. This technique can be applied for design and testing of highprecision telescopes, adaptive optical and laser communication systems.Chapter 5 describes a technique based on thermochromic liquid crystal films to obtain two-dimensional thermal images produced by ultrasound physiotherapy equipment.Chapter 6 proposes simple and accurate optical methods for determining the nonlinear refractive coefficient, the nonlinear absorption and the rotational viscosity coefficient in the dye-doped nematic liquid crystal.Of course, the book gives consideration to numerous issues of up-to-date liquid crystal displays. Chapter 7 suggests a polarizer-free display using dye-doped liquid crystal gels whose physical mechanism is mainly the combination of both light scattering and absorption. Potential applications are paper-like flexible displays, electrically tunable light shutters and decorative displays. Chapter 8 is focused on the fundamentals of an active matrix liquid crystal displa...
