Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, Physics

There are numerous applications of liquid crystals spanning many fields of technology. There are also many applications for detecting patterns of ionizing radiation such as X-rays. This project involves using well known properties of liquid crystals to design a detector to display two dimensional patterns of ionizing radiation. Polymerized liquid crystal films were fabricated with one surface being a transparent electrical conductor, and the other open to air. These films were designed so that an optical change in the layers occurs when charged particles are deposited on the surface. This allows for the creation of displays that show the spatial arrangement of deposited charges. It is well known that a gas with appropriate electrical fields can convert patterns of ionizing radiation into patterns of charge. We have explored different liquid crystal and polyimide combinations to create stable hybrid aligned and homeotropically aligned open cells. We have developed an electron source which generated the electrons needed to test the liquid crystal layers. Finally, we have done several tests to better understand the mechanism for inducing a transition in the layers, and to make the liquid crystal films more useful for charged particle detection.

Committee: Charles Rosenblatt (Advisor); Rolfe Petschek (Advisor); Benjamin Monreal (Advisor) Subjects: Physics