Science Behind Lcd Tvs Is Made Crystal Clear

Liquid crystal films, which are just 1/20th of the thickness of a human hair but

are the crucial components of flat screen TVs, iPhones and games consoles, will be in the spotlight at a prestigious Royal Society exhibition featuring a Sheffield Hallam University academic.

Visitors to Liquid Crystal: Living Cells and Flat Screen TVs at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, which opens on Friday at the Southbank Centre in London, will be able to examine how a flat screen TV works, and see amazing coloured beetles reflecting circularly polarised light, demonstrating how nature first learned to exploit liquid crystal technology millions of years ago.

Sheffield Hallam Professor Doug Cleaver, head of the Materials and Fluid Flow Modelling Group, will join scientists from the Universities of Manchester, Southampton and York to present highlights of liquid crystal science and technology exhibition, which runs from 25 June to 4 July.

They will talk visitors through their research, including Professor Cleaver's expertise on liquid crystal simulation, which could radically change technologies in the years ahead.

Professor Cleaver said: "There is an exciting future for liquid crystal science and engineering beyond the existing display applications.

"New areas ranging from tuneable lasers and artificial muscle to sensors and nanoparticle scaffolds for new materials are all currently being explored by UK scientists."

Professor Tim Sluckin from University of Southampton said: "By now, most people are familiar with LCDs, which can be found in their TVs, IPods, IPads, and games consoles, but most people have little idea how these flat screen devices really work, nor that the key component of these screens is actually much thinner than a human hair."

Visitors to the liquid crystal stand will be able to explore the combination of scientific principles that make LCDs possible. They will also be able to see transitions between liquid crystalline states, and operate computer models of liquid crystals. A new dual-view screen and a revolutionary three-dimensional display will be on show, neither of which use polarizing or coloured glasses. In addition, there will be examples that show how liquid crystals are used in nature, including many examples in our bodies.

Liquid crystals were first discovered in the 1880s and long regarded as mere scientific curiosities. Since the 1970s, interest in liquid crystals has grown, with development of many technological applications both in the UK and abroad.

UK research groups remain at the forefront of developing new technologies based on liquid crystals.

by: Nick Farmilo

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