Featured Liquid Crystal Picture Art of the Month

September 2019

©Adam Draude

"The Chromatic Tempest"

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Description

This is polarized optical microscopy image of the compound cholesteryl perlagonate at a temperature of 73.6 degrees Celsius at the transformation of the SmA* phase to the TGBA* phase, which is coming in from the left-hand side. The phase transition is marked by rapid changes in colour with the same contrast and ferocity as the wind at the onset of a storm.

Author

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Adam is a PhD student working in the research group of Dr Ingo Dierking at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, UK. He completed his MPhys integrated Master’s Degree in Physics from The University of Manchester in 2017. His research interests lie in the lyotropic phases of two-dimensional materials, and their integration with thermotropic liquid crystals.

Research profile on the university’s website
The website of the research group

Jury comment

This picture represents a nice example of color and texture change during transformation from the  SmA* to the TGBA* phase.
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