Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar
FNA, FRS
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 6 August 1930 |
| Died | 8 March 2004 (aged 73) Bengaluru, India
|
| Awards | Royal Medal (1994) Eringen Medal (1996) |
Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar (born August 6, 1930 – died March 8, 2004) was an important Indian physicist. He was known for his work with liquid crystals. He also helped start the International Liquid Crystal Society.
Chandrasekhar was born in Kolkata, India. He studied physics at Nagpur University. He earned his first degree in 1951. Later, he joined the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bangalore. There, he worked on his PhD with his uncle, C. V. Raman. His early research looked at how light behaves in different crystals.
He earned another doctorate degree from Cambridge University in England. This time, he studied how neutrons and X-rays scatter when they hit crystals. After his studies, he worked in London. In 1961, he came back to India. He became the first head of the Physics Department at the University of Mysore. This is where he became very interested in liquid crystals.
Contents
What Are Liquid Crystals?
Liquid crystals are special materials. They can flow like a liquid but also have some order like a solid crystal. Scientists first found them in 1888. More studies happened in Germany in the 1920s and 30s. Then, for a while, not much new happened.
In the 1950s, scientists like George William Gray and Wilhelm Maier started new research. This made liquid crystals a hot topic again. Chandrasekhar and his team studied how light moves through these crystals. They also improved the theories about how liquid crystals work.
How Chandrasekhar Helped Liquid Crystal Research
In 1971, Chandrasekhar started a special lab at the Raman Research Institute. He and his students worked hard to make this lab a top research center. They even built a lab to create new liquid crystal materials. This helped them make many new discoveries.
One big invention was the twisted nematic liquid crystal display (LCD). This happened in Europe in 1971. LCDs are now used everywhere, like in your phone or TV screen! Chandrasekhar worked with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bangalore. Together, they helped India make its own LCDs.
Discovering New Liquid Crystal Types
In 1977, Chandrasekhar and his team made a huge discovery. They found a new type of liquid crystal. These were made from disc-shaped molecules, not the usual rod-shaped ones. These disc-shaped molecules formed special columns. This new state of matter was called the "columnar phase."
Their discovery was published in a journal called Pramana. It became one of the most important papers in the field. After this, many more compounds with disc-like molecules were created. These columnar liquid crystals are great at conducting electricity in certain directions. This makes them useful for new devices.
Later, in 1996, Japanese scientists found even more new liquid crystal types. These were made from banana-shaped molecules. Many of these also showed the columnar liquid crystal phase.
Books, Awards, and Recognition
In 1977, Chandrasekhar also published a book about liquid crystals. It was published by Cambridge University Press. This book became very popular. It was even translated into Russian and Japanese. A bigger version of the book came out in 1992.
Chandrasekhar helped organize many international meetings. One big meeting was in 1973. Many famous liquid crystal scientists attended. These included Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, who later won the Nobel Prize.
Chandrasekhar received many awards for his scientific work. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983. This is a very high honor for scientists. He also won the Royal Medal in 1994. Other awards included the Bhatnagar Award (1972) and the Niels Bohr International Gold Medal (1998). He also received the Padma Bhushan from the Indian government in 1998.
After retiring in 1990, Chandrasekhar started the Centre for Liquid Crystal Research. He was also the first president of the International Liquid Crystal Society. He helped put India on the world map for liquid crystal research.
