Ryan C. Capps received the University Best Thesis Award in December 2002 for his M.S. thesis entitled “Optical Properties of Disperse Red 1 Doped Nematic Liquid Crystal.” Ryan is now working on his Ph.D. and doing research on carbon nanotubes at the University of Texas - Dallas. Ryan is shown below in Killgore Research Center on the WTAMU campus. In the background is the control panel for the secondary ion mass spectrometer.

Saunab Ghosh is shown below adjusting a carbon nanotube and dye doped liquid crystal sample for diffraction studies. Saunab received his M.S. in Chemistry at WTAMU in 2005. His thesis was entitled "Enhanced Photochromic Diffraction in Carbon nanotube and Methyl Red Doped Nematic Liquid Crystals." His paper entitled  "Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Diffraction Efficiency in Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal,"  was published; see Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 16 753 (2005). A second paper is under preparation. Saunab is currently working toward his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Rice University. His research there is also on carbon nanotubes.


Ping Peng finished her M.S. thesis entitled "Polarization-Independent Diffraction in a Cholesteric Liquid Crystal," and graduated in December 2002. Ping is now working on her Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ping is shown here with liquid crystal cell. Note spot where the two laser beams overlap within the LC. This cell was made using teflon spacers seen at the edges. The LC is a mixture of biphenyls known as E7 and doped with disperse red 1 giving it the red color.

"Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Diffraction Efficiency in Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal" was published in the November 2005 issue of Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. Also,  "All-Optical Polarization-Independent Diffraction in Dye-Doped Cholesteric Liquid Crystal" has been accepted for publication by the same journal. The paper on LC doped with both CNT and dye is the first of its kind, while the paper on polarization-independent diffraction represents a first example for a LC of this type.

For more research details see Research Interests and Seminar by Manlin Pei.

Wie "Wendy" Xia received her M.S degree in May 2004. Her thesis, "Second-Harmonic Generation as a Function of Chromophore Number Density in an Azo-Dye Attached Polymer," received the University Best Thesis Award in in 2004.



                                                                    Photos by Rik Andersen

Prof. Carlisle is still having fun playing with lasers. Here he adjust the liquid crystal sample for diffraction experiments. University photographer, Rik Anderson, spent a lot of time obtaining the multiple-exposure photo showing the laser beams. The two 532-nm green beams, derived from a YAG laser, are used as pump beams to write gradings within the LC while the red 670-nm beam, from a diode laser, is used as a probe beam.

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