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Abstract
All of us who are fortunate enough
to be able to read this will generally have two astonishing
detectors for light. Indeed a large amount of input data to our
brains comes through visual images. Light is key to our very
existence. This demonstration lecture will cover a wide range of
phenomena concerning light and colour.
The impact of
technological aspects of light, the science of photonics, is ever
growing. Lasers as light sources, optical fibres as communication
channels and liquid crystals as the output interface to the human
receiver (us) are now commonplace. This demonstration lecture will
include many aspects of light including the essence of total
internal reflection leading to optical waveguiding, the concept of
linear polarisation, the ideas of colour birefringence, voltage
controlled liquid crystal switching and others.
Biography
Roy Sambles, Professor of Experimental Physics at University of
Exeter, has a long and distinguished career researching the
interaction of light and materials. His group at Exeter have studied
a wide range of systems including: liquid crystal devices;
iridescent butterfly wings; and the propagation of light at
surfaces, through thin layered systems and through gratings. These
studies have applications in liquid crystal displays for TVs and
computers, highly sensitive detection of materials (e.g. for medical
diagnosis), and optical and microwave communication. His group has
worked extensively with other academic and industrial groups across
Europe. http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/emag.html
Roy studied physics
at Imperial College, gaining his BSc and PhD there, and has since
published over 400 papers in international journals. He was awarded
the George Gray medal of the British Liquid Crystal Society in 1998,
elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002, and won the Young medal
and prize of the Institute of Physics in 2003.
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