Enhanced Magneto-Optical Properties of Suspensions of Spindle Type Mono-Dispersed Hematite Nano-Particles in Liquid Crystal
Résumé
We explored how to increase liquid crystal sensitivity to external magnetic fields. Suspensions consisting of a mixture of liquid crystal and spindle type monodispersed hematite nano-particles at concentrations lower than 1 wt% were prepared.The Freedericksz transition threshold for the suspensions appeared to be lower than for the pure liquid crystal. It was proved that adding canted antiferromagnetic nano-particles in liquid crystals increased their sensitivity to magnetic field while no change of the basic mesogenic properties of the matrix occurred.