Credit: (Credit: Zosia Rostomian/Berkeley Lab; Physical Review Letters, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.147803; Journal of Materials Chemistry C, DOI: 10.1039/C4TC01927J)
Researchers examined the spiral “twist-bend” structure (right) formed by boomerang-shaped liquid crystal molecules (left and center) measuring 3 nanometers in length, using a pioneering X-ray technique at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source. A better understanding of this spiral form, discovered in 2013, could lead to new applications for liquid crystals and improved liquid-crystal display screens.