(398a) Principles for Nanoscale Science and Engineering using Liquid Crystals

This talk will present a broad perspective on recent advances in nanoscale science and engineering that involve the liquid crystalline state of matter, with a particular focus directed to formation of tunable nanostructured materials and amplification of nanoscopic phenomena. Key unresolved fundamental challenges as well as technological opportunities will be described. Examples of topics to be addressed include (i) the design of tailored liquid crystalline materials using anisometric organic and inorganic nanoparticles, (ii) the use of liquid crystalline solvents, and interparticle forces mediated by liquid crystals, to direct the assembly of nanoparticles into reconfigurable organized arrays, (iii) localized surface plasmonics of metallic nanostructures in liquid crystalline media, and (iv) reporting of nanoscale events at interfaces via ordering transitions induced in liquid crystalline phases.