Unique properties of semiconductor and liquid crystal nano composites

Abstract
In this thesis we report the study of optical and electrical properties on the composites based on liquid crystals and CdS nanorods. Quite interesting results have been obtained from our studies, which are very useful for the understanding as well as application of these materials. They are presented as follow.
The novel nanocomposite device reveals a very unique and useful behavior that the polarization of the emission from semiconductor nanorods can be controlled by an external bias. The large magnitude of polarization anisotropy of 0.63 can be quantitatively interpreted very well in terms of the dielectric contrast between semiconductor and liquid crystal. Our approach is quite general, which is applicable to other nanomaterials, and it utilizes the currently mature liquid crystal display technology. The results open up new possible applications for one-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures in smart optoelectronic applications, including optical switches, integrated photonic devices, as well as electrochromatic gadgets in the near future.