Web Release Date: April 5,
Semiconductor Nanorod Liquid Crystals
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, and Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720
Received January 29, 2002
Revised February 9, 2002
Abstract:
Rodlike molecules form liquid crystalline phases with orientational order and positional disorder. The great majority of materials in which liquid crystalline phases have been observed comprise organic molecules or polymers, even though there has been continuing and growing interest in inorganic liquid crystals. Recent advances in the control of the sizes and shapes of inorganic nanocrystals allow for the formation of a broad class of new inorganic liquid crystals. Here, we show the formation of liquid crystalline phases of CdSe semiconductor nanorods. These new liquid crystalline phases may have great importance for both application and fundamental study.
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