Camille Bishop

Liquid crystals (LC) are a state of matter that has both properties of a fluid and the directionality of a solid. The directionality of the LC molecules causes them to have two axes with different refractive indices, causing birefringence, which allows their orientation to be measured through optical methods when viewed through crossed polarizers. The anchoring of the LC molecules can be controlled by the functionalization of surfaces by LC polymer brushes. Chemically nanopatterned surfaces can be created by etching a prepared surface of polymer brush with an e-beam. However, the boundaries between regions of different anchoring states have many defects that are poorly understood. Under Dr. Li, Camille is studying the behavior of LCs at these boundaries by confining the LC with chemically patterned surfaces on micrometer and nanometer scales.