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Societal Impact
Published in John D. Cressler, Silicon Earth, 2017
All this said, there are other potentially very positive roles for micro/nanoelectronics to play in greening-up the planet. Some are obvious, some are buried under the covers. For instance, photovoltaics (PV) as a viable energy production means is a highly visible semiconductor-driven renewable energy source that will clearly play an increasingly important role as oil supplies dwindle, as eventually they must. And let’s not forget the role that electronics can play in energy use “optimization.” That is, in complex energyintensive systems (cars, homes, buildings, smartphones), micro/nanoelectronics can be used to first sense, and then electronically optimize, in real time, the system’s own energy usage. For instance, the electronic systems in your car presently adjust the engine operational parameters dynamically to maximize fuel efficiency. GPS optimizes truckers’ travel routes to minimize distance and maximize fuel efficiency. Your laptop and smartphone both have varying levels of sleep modes and sophisticated power-down circuitry to extend battery life. In your home, electronic sensors will turn off lights when they are not in use or adjust the thermostat in real time to maintain comfort while maximizing energy efficiency. Opportunities for creativity abound.
Improvement in molecular ordering of ferroelectric liquid crystal by incorporating CuGaS2/ZnS core/shell quantum dots
Published in Liquid Crystals, 2023
Nilesh Pote, Swapnil Doke, Amruta Lohar, V. Raghavendra Reddy, Yesh D. Kolekar, Prasun Ganguly, Arun Banpurkar
Today, liquid crystals (LCs) are a vital part of display devices such as television display and displays of modern devices such as smart watches, smartphones, laptop screen and flat panel display [1–6]. Out of many classes of LCs, ferroelectric LCs (FLCs) are distinctive because of their positional ordering, orientational ordering and chirality due to tilt of molecules [1]. Owing to their distinctive properties, FLCs show extensive viewing angle, small driving voltage, memory storage capacity, quick response to external stimuli of electric field and superior optical contrast [7–9]. Conversely, these FLCs are not widely used in display devices because of resistance to align in a desired direction alongside tendency to create defects on FLC surface, which resulted in minor brightness and deprived energy efficiency [1,9]. Nanomaterials (by varying shape, composition, size, surface capping agents, etc.) with very small concentrations were incorporated into FLC matrix to get superior electro-optic, dielectric, elastic and physical properties [1–14]. Recently, quantum dots (QDs) are found to be fascinating dopants in FLCs because of their unique quantum confinement effects, functionalization, size-dependent electronic energy levels, relatively high oscillator strengths and better stability [1,6].