Liquid crystals

Abstract

Liquid crystals represent states of matter that are intermediate between the crystalline solid and the amorphous liquid. There has been a considerable growth of interest in these mesomorphic states in recent years, partly because of their important applications in display technology. This review article deals with the physics of the three types of liquid crystals-nematic, cholesteric and smectic-describing their structures, their thermodynamic, optical and mechanical properties and their behaviour under external fields.