Designing Liquid Crystal for Optoacoustic Detection
Abstract
This research impacts the development of a cost-saving device that can replace a wide range of commercial sensors. The goals were to design and test a sensor that uses the optical properties of liquid crystal (LC) to detect acoustic waves. This began with developing a method to fine-tune the optical features of the LC. Statistical analysis of select experimental variables lead to ideal settings of those variables when creating the sensor. A two experiments were separately conducted and analyzed as a demonstration of this system. The identification of dominant and ideal factor levels, including their interactions, enabled a statistically enhanced molecular design method of LC for use in many types of sensor applications. Detecting acoustic waves using the optical properties of a material, or optoacoustic detection, was chosen as the application to test the designed LC. Research continued with calculating the interaction between the soundwaves and the optical and mechanical properties of the LC. Systematic comparisons between a commercially available acoustic sensor system and this theoretical LC optoacoustic detector are provided. Development concluded with a test which demonstrated that the ordered, chiral nematic phase of LC can improve an existing acoustic sensing device. Recommendations for further development are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 21, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1074910
Entities
People
- Michael T Dela Cruz
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology