Suraj Kumar Pathak, featured ILCS liquid crystal artist, June 2023

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Suraj Kumar Pathak holds the position of Postdoctoral Research Associate at AMLCI (KSU), where he works under the supervision of Prof. Torsten Hegmann. His research primarily focuses on the design and synthesis of liquid crystalline emitters, with a particular emphasis on their applications in optoelectronics. Additionally, he is engaged in studying the detection of gases and vapors through patterned nanoparticle liquid crystal alignment.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=P3xc62YAAAAJ&hl=en
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9989-1995
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suraj-Pathak-4

Contact Information:
Emails: spathak4(at)kent.edu, surajpathak6(at)gmail.com
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The photomicrograph captures the unique fingerprint-like texture exhibited by nematic liquid crystals doped with a highly luminescent chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescent dye. To capture this intriguing texture, the liquid crystal mixture was carefully sandwiched between two untreated glass slides. The observation took place at 40°C, utilizing a cross polarizer and a 10x magnification, while gradually cooling the sample from the isotropic phase at a rate of 1°C per minute. The picture bears a striking resemblance to a delightful lollipop candy.
Jury comment: The photo shows once again how liquid crystals combine science and artistic aspects, so the picture is very attractive from an aesthetic and artistic point of view.