Slovenian Scientists First to Create Magnetic Liquid Crystal

13. 12. 2013

Slovenian Scientists First to Create Magnetic Liquid Crystal


Slovenian scientists have succeed in creating a magnetic liquid crystal, becoming the first in the world to do so after more than 40 years of unsuccessful attempts, an article published on Thursday in the acclaimed British magazine Nature shows.


Scientists at the Jožef Stefan Institute, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Ljubljana University and the Maribor University Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology have discovered ferromagnetism in suspensions of magnetic platelets in liquid crystal, the Jožef Štefan Institute wrote in a press release.

 

The possibility of the existence of such a liquid magnet was already proposed by Nobel prize winner Pierre de Gennes 43 years ago, but has proved elusive in a number of attempts by researchers so far. The success is entirely the result of the work of Slovenian scientists.

 

 

The discovery opens numerous new possibilities, an example being optic devices that can be steered by very small magnetic fields as opposed to external voltage.

 

The authors of the article published in Nature magazine are Alenka Mertelj, Darja Lisjak, Miha Drofenik and Martin Čopič.

 

Source: Slovenia Times

Slovenian Scientists First to Create Magnetic Liquid Crystal