Recent years have seen major advances in the developments of both additive manufacturing concepts and responsive materials. When combined as 4D printing, the process can lead to functional materials ...and devices for use in health, energy generation, sensing, and soft robots. Among responsive materials, liquid crystals, which can deliver programmed, reversible, rapid responses in both air and underwater, are a prime contender for additive manufacturing, given their ease of use and adaptability to many different applications. In this paper, selected works are compared and analyzed to come to a didactical overview of the liquid crystal‐additive manufacturing junction. Reading from front to back gives the reader a comprehensive understanding of the options and challenges in the field, while researchers already experienced in either liquid crystals or additive manufacturing are encouraged to scan through the text to see how they can incorporate additive manufacturing or liquid crystals into their own work. The educational text is closed with proposals for future research in this crossover field.
Liquid crystals are the basis for many “smart” materials used in, for instance, soft robotics and polymer optics. Recently, their potential and appeal for different additive manufacturing techniques has been demonstrated. Insight into the usage of liquid crystals in 3D printing for fabrication at both micro‐ and centimeterscale is provided for those wanting to join this exciting, developing field.
The iridescence of structural color and its polarization characteristics originate from the nanoscale organization of materials. A major challenge in materials science is generating the bright, ...lustrous hues seen in nature through nanoscale engineering, while simultaneously controlling interaction of the material with different light polarizations. In this work, a suitable chiral nematic liquid crystal elastomer ink is synthesized for direct ink writing, which self‐assembles into a chiral photonic structure. Tuning the writing direction and speed leads to the programmed formation of a slanted photonic axis, which exhibits atypical iridescence and polarization selectivity. After crosslinking, a freely programmable, chiroptical photonic polymer material is obtained. The strongly perspective‐dependent appearance of the material can function as specialized anticounterfeit markers, as optical elements in decorative iridescent coatings, or, as demonstrated here, in optically based signaling features.
Inspired by natural examples of patterned iridescence, an ink based on a chiral nematic liquid crystal that can be processed with a direct ink writer 3D printer is shown. Tuning the writing direction and speed leads to the programmed formation of a slanted photonic axis that exhibits atypical iridescence and polarization selectivity.
We investigate theoretically how the proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures with intrinsic spin-orbit coupling manifests in two measurable quantities, namely, the density of ...states and critical temperature. To describe a general scenario, we allow for both Rashba- and Dresselhaus-type spinorbit coupling. Our results are obtained via the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity, extended to include spin-orbit coupling in the Usadel equation and in the Kupriyanov-Lukichev boundary conditions.
Spin transport via electrons is typically plagued by Joule heating and short decay lengths due to spin-flip scattering. It is known that dissipationless spin currents can arise when using ...conventional superconducting contacts, yet this has only been experimentally demonstrated when using intricate magnetically inhomogeneous multilayers, or in extreme cases such as half-metals with interfacial magnetic disorder. Moreover, it is unknown how such spin supercurrents decay in the presence of spin-flip scattering. Here, we present a method for generating a spin supercurrent by using only a single homogeneous magnetic element. Remarkably, the spin supercurrent generated in this way does not decay spatially, in stark contrast to normal spin currents that remain polarized only up to the spin relaxation length. We also expose the existence of a superconductivity-mediated torque even without magnetic inhomogeneities, showing that the different components of the spin supercurrent polarization respond fundamentally differently to a change in the superconducting phase difference. This establishes a mechanism for tuning dissipationless spin and charge flow separately, and confirms the advantage that superconductors can offer in spintronics.
ABSTRACT
Various attempts have been made in the literature at describing the origin and the physical mechanisms behind flaring events in blazars with radiative emission models, but detailed ...properties of multiwavelength (MWL) light curves still remain difficult to reproduce. We have developed a versatile radiative code, based on a time-dependent treatment of particle acceleration, escape, and radiative cooling, allowing us to test different scenarios to connect the continuous low-state emission self-consistently with that during flaring states. We consider flares as weak perturbations of the quiescent state and apply this description to the 2010 February MWL flare of Mrk 421, the brightest very high energy (VHE) flare ever detected from this archetypal blazar, focusing on interpretations with a minimum number of free parameters. A general criterion is obtained, which disfavours a one-zone model connecting low and high state under our assumptions. A two-zone model combining physically connected acceleration and emission regions yields a satisfactory interpretation of the available time-dependent MWL light curves and spectra of Mrk 421, although certain details remain difficult to reproduce. The two-zone scenario finally proposed for the complex quiescent and flaring VHE emitting region involves both Fermi-I and Fermi-II acceleration mechanisms, respectively, at the origin of the quiescent and flaring emission.
Context. Blazars are usually classified following their synchrotron peak frequency (νF(ν) scale) as high, intermediate, low frequency peaked BL Lacs (HBLs, IBLs, LBLs), and flat spectrum radio ...quasars (FSRQs), or, according to their radio morphology at large scale, FR I or FR II. However, the diversity of blazars is such that these classes seem insufficient to chart the specific properties of each source. Aims. We propose to classify a wide sample of blazars following the kinematic features of their radio jets seen in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). Methods. For this purpose we use public data from the MOJAVE collaboration in which we select a sample of blazars with known redshift and sufficient monitoring to constrain apparent velocities. We selected 161 blazars from a sample of 200 sources. We identify three distinct classes of VLBI jets depending on radio knot kinematics: class I with quasi-stationary knots, class II with knots in relativistic motion from the radio core, and class I/II, intermediate, showing quasi-stationary knots at the jet base and relativistic motions downstream. Results. A notable result is the good overlap of this kinematic classification with the usual spectral classification; class I corresponds to HBLs, class II to FSRQs, and class I/II to IBLs/LBLs. We deepen this study by characterizing the physical parameters of jets from VLBI radio data. Hence we focus on the singular case of the class I/II by the study of the blazar BL Lac itself. Finally we show how the interpretation that radio knots are recollimation shocks is fully appropriate to describe the characteristics of these three classes.
Liquid crystalline networks have been fashioned into thin films with tapered thicknesses, revealing the possibility of rolling up extremely tightly when triggered thermally or with light. Compared to ...the often limited bending shown previously in liquid crystal network actuators, these tapered films curl up several hundreds of degrees. Finite element results of simulated functionally graded thin films with tapered thicknesses corroborate well with experimental work.
Tight bending bio-inspired soft actuators were fashioned in liquid crystalline networks by using a novel tapered film geometry.
Context.
High-energy photons emitted by flaring active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have been used for many years to constrain modified dispersion relations in vacuum encountered in the context of quantum ...gravity phenomenology. In such studies, done in the GeV–TeV range, energy-dependent delays (spectral lags) are searched for, usually neglecting any source-intrinsic time delay.
Aims.
With the aim being to distinguish Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) effects from lags generated at the sources themselves, a detailed investigation into intrinsic spectral lags in flaring AGNs above 100 GeV is presented in the frame of synchrotron-self-Compton scenarios for their very-high-energy (VHE) emission.
Methods.
A simple model of VHE flares in blazars is proposed, allowing to explore the influence of the main physical parameters describing the emitting zones on intrinsic delays.
Results.
For typical conditions expected in TeV blazars, significant intrinsic lags are obtained, which can dominate over LIV effects, especially at low redshifts, and should therefore be carefully disentangled from any extrinsic lags. Moreover, two main regimes are identified with characteristic spectral lags, corresponding to long-lasting and fast particle acceleration.
Conclusions.
Such intrinsic spectral lags should be detected with new-generation instruments at VHE such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array which begins operation in a few years. This will provide original constraints on AGN flare models and open a new era for LIV searches in the photon sector.
Ap Lib is one of the rare low-synchrotron-peaked blazars detected so far at TeV energies. This type of source is not properly modelled by standard one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) ...emission scenarios. The aim of this paper is to study the relevance of additional components that should naturally occur in an SSC scenario for a better understanding of the emission mechanisms, especially at very high energies (VHE). We use simultaneous data from a multi-wavelength campaign of the Planck, Swift-UVOT, and Swift-XRT telescopes carried out in February 2010, as well as quasi-simultaneous data of WISE, Fermi, and HESS taken in 2010. The multi-lambda emission of Ap Lib is modelled by a blob-in-jet SSC scenario including the contribution of the base of the VLBI-extended jet, the radiative blob-jet interaction, the accretion disk, and its associated external photon field. We show that signatures of a strong parsec-scale jet and of an accretion disk emission are present in the spectral energy distribution. We can link the observational VLBI jet features from MOJAVE to parameters expected for a VHE-emitting blob accelerated near the jet base. The VHE emission appears to be dominated by the inverse-Compton effect of the blob relativistic electrons interacting with the jet synchrotron radiation. In this scenario, Ap Lib appears as an intermediate source between BL Lac objects and flat-spectrum radio quasars. Ap Lib could be a bright representative of a specific class of blazars, in which the parsec-scale jet luminosity is no more negligible compared to the blob and contributes to the high-energy emission through inverse-Compton processes.
A supertwist liquid crystalline luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) “smart” window is fabricated which can be switched electrically between three states: one designed for increased light absorption ...and electrical generation (the “dark” state), one for transparency (the “light” state), and one for enhanced haziness (“scattering” state). In the scattering state, the absorption and edge emissions decrease while the face emissions are enhanced. This new LSC “smart” window state can find application as a privacy feature in housing, but could also allow for a new “smart” window application as a diffuse glazing to increase plant growth in horticultural applications.
A three‐state luminescent solar concentrator “smart” window is described which, along with the normal dark and light states, introduces a scattering state. This additional hazy state could find use in greenhouse horticulture applications as well as acting as a “privacy” state window capable of generating electricity via edge‐attached photovoltaic cells.
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