New 3-D optical imaging method created

CLEVELAND, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist has developed a technology he says can provide 3-D optical imaging of such anisotropic fluids as liquid crystals.

Case Western Reserve University Professor Charles Rosenblatt and colleagues say their achievement provides optical imaging of anisotropic fluids at a volumetric resolution 1,000 times smaller than existing techniques.

Using the technique that provides detailed visual renderings of structures at the level of tens of nanometers, the new imaging method will facilitate improvements to existing devices and make entirely new applications possible, researchers said. Moreover, they said many fundamental scientific questions that deal with phase transitions or the nature of topological defects can be studied in far more detail than previously possible.

The findings were reported in the Sept. 21 advanced online edition of the journal Nature Physics and will soon be available in the print version.