Thermotropic crystal
A liquid crystal (LC) is thermotropic if the order of its components[clarify] is determined or changed by temperature.
If temperature is too high, the rise in energy and therefore in motion of the components will induce a phase transition: the LC will become an isotropic liquid. If, on the contrary, temperature is too low to support a thermotropic phase, the LC will change to glass phase.
There is therefore a range of temperatures at which we observe thermotropic LCs; and most of these have several "subphases" (nematic, smectic...), which we may observe by modifying the temperature.
See also
External links
- [dead link]https://web.archive.org/web/20051028050345/http://www.tu-berlin.de/~insi/ag_heppke/clark/lcintro.htm
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