0Liquid crystals (LCs) are matter in a state which has properties between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For instance, a liquid crystal may flow like a liquid but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way.
Cholesteric Phases: The cholesteric (or chiral nematic) liquid crystal phase is typically composed of nematic mesogenic molecules containing a chiral center which produces intermolecular forces that favor alignment between molecules at a slight angle to one another.
Many liquid crystals are simple polymeric organic compounds. We tend to think of polymers as flexible (polythenes etc.) so for liquid crystals, the polymers have to incorporate a rigid section, either in the long polymer section (main chain liquid crystals) or attached to the polymer as a 'side chain'.
A liquid crystal (LC) is thermotropic if the order of its components is determined or changed by temperature. If the temperature is too high, the rise in energy and therefore in the motion of the components will induce a phase transition: the LC will become an isotropic liquid.
In Physics, a mesophase is a state of matter intermediate between liquid and solid. Gelatin is a common example of a partially ordered structure in a mesophase. Further, biological structures such as the lipid bilayers of cell membranes are examples of mesophases.
A cholesteric liquid crystal display (ChLCD) is a display containing a liquid crystal with a helical structure and which is therefore chiral. Cholesteric liquid crystals are also known as chiral nematic liquid crystals.
LCD (liquid crystal display) is the technology used for displays in notebook and other smaller computers. Like light-emitting diode (LED) and gas-plasma technologies, LCDs allow displays to be much thinner than cathode ray tube (CRT) technology.
In smectic A (SmA) phases, on average, the molecules are parallel to one another and are arranged in layers, with the long axes perpendicular to the layer plane. Within the layers, the centers of gravity of the molecules are ordered at random.
