Research Highlights

Profile

  • M.Sc. (Physics), University of Burdwan, 1998
  • Ph.D. (Physics), Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, 2004
  • Post Doctoral Fellow, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan (2008)
  • Visiting Scientist, Jozef Stefan Institute, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (2013-2018)
  • Visiting Professor, IBS Center for Soft and Living Matter, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea (2018)

    • Academic Appointments

  • 2016- Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad
  • 2013-2016 Associate Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad
  • 2010-2013 Reader, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad
  • 2007-2010 Senior Assistant Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad
  • 2006 Assistant Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad
  • 2004-2005 Assistant Professor, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan

    • Teaching

    Research Interests

    We study mesoscale self-assembly of colloidal particles in liquid crystals. The elasticity of distortions associated with the topological defect of the liquid crystal determines the interactions between the embedded microparticles. It gives rise to long-range anisotropic forces that have no analogues in regular colloidal systems dispersed in an isotropic fluid. In addition, there is a short-range structural repulsive force, and the delicate balance between them governs the positional and orientational ordering of the colloidal particles in liquid crystals. These forces are exploited to self-assemble the colloidal particles, which are further guided by laser tweezers to design advanced optical materials with complex architecture, which are likely to be useful in photonics, sensors and tunable materials.

    Topological defects are important in determining properties of physical systems, and are known varyingly depending on the broken symmetry. These defects are crucial for determining the physical properties of the materials. We study the rheological properties of exotic liquid crystals in which the topological defects are inherent to the structures. We also study the microrheology of liquid crystals, polymers, gels and various other soft materials.

    We study liquid crystal based optical micro-resonators for Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) resonance and lasing, optics of self-assembled structures of droplets, colloidal particles.

    Colloidal particles inducing topological defects in liquid crystals exhibit rotational and translational motion by transducing external energy. We study this new class of materials, termed as "topological active matter" in which topological defects and elasticity of liquid crystals play a crucial role in the dynamic structure as well as assembly and energy conversion.

    The phase transitions, physical properties and the electro-optical responses of unconventional liquid crystals made of asymmetric molecules are drastically different from those of conventional liquid crystals made of rod-like molecules. We study phase transitions and physical properties of unconventional liquid crystals. We also study many aspects of ferroelectric nematic, ferromagnetic nematic and twist-bent nematic liquid crystals.

  • DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT:
    • "Bench Top Rubbing Machine for Liquid Crystal Displays" marketed by Holmarc Opto-Mechatronics PVT. LTD) Link :Bench Top Rubbing Machine

    Patent: Method for controlling transport and for measuring electric dipole moment of metallo-dielectric particles in liquid crystals (Patent. No:420353 , Granted on 03/02/2023)

    Publications

    2025
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    123 Topologically reconfigurable nematic emulsions Saikat Das, Seyednejad Seyed-Reza, Simon Copar and Surajit Dhara Under Review (2025)
    122 Ferromagnetic nematic suspensions with negative dielectric anisotropy: Competing effects of magnetic and electric fields S. J. Shivaraja, A. Das, R. Manda, A. Mertelj, D. Lisjak, and Surajit Dhara Under Review (2025)
    121 Field-response of polymer microemulsions based on reactive mesogens R. Manda, Surajit Dhara, T. H. Kim, Y. J. Lim, S. H. Lee and MinSu Kim J. Mol. Liq. 420, 126849 (2025)
    2024
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    120 Unconventional photo control of structural features using elliptically polarized light S. Pagidi, D. Luo, S. K. Bishwanath, Surajit Dhara and R. Manda Laser Photonics Rev. 2401085 (2024)
    119 Two-way WGM resonance tuning of dual frequency nematic liquid crystal microresonators Asish P Venkitesh, Abinash Barthakur, Przemyslaw Kula and Surajit Dhara ACS Appl. Opt. Mater. 2, 2605 (2024)
    118 A perspective on guided electrophoretic transport of particles in liquid crystals D. K. Sahu, V. S. Devika, and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Lett. 125, 160502 (2024)
    117 Manoeuvring superparamagnetic particles in a nematic liquid crystal by transverse electric and in-plane rotating magnetic fields Archana S, Kamakhya Narayan Dutta, and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Applied. 22, 044006 (2024)
    116 Effect of rotational shear on the dielectric dispersion of a nematic liquid crystal above the Freedericksz threshold field K. Anaswara Das, M. Praveen Kumar, Simon Copar, and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 20, 6965 (2024)
    115 Chiral monomer template for designing Low-Driving-Field blue phase liquid crystals S Pagidi, R. Manda, S. K. Vishwanath, M-Y. Choi, M. H. Saeed, S. Dhara and J-H. Na J. Mol. Liq. 398, 124311 (2024)
    114 Mixing twist-bend and ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals A. Barthakur, B. Bag, S.J. Shivaraja, J. Karcz, P. Kula and S. Dhara Phys. Rev. E 109, 024702 (2024)
    113 Electrophoretic propulsion of matchstick-shaped magnetodielectric particles in the presence of external magnetic fields in a nematic liquid crystal Archana S, Devika V.S., P. More, R. K. Pujala and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 20, 535 (2024)
    2023
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    112 Shear-induced flow and dynamics of the nematic phase of Sunset Yellow lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal M. V. Saisavadas, B V R Tata and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 51 206 (2023)
    111 Light-responsive nematic colloids and colloidal crystals Devika V S, D. K. Sahu, O. Haba and Surajit Dhara Advanced Optical Materials 2300513 (2023)
    110 Giant electroviscous effects in a ferroelectric nemaric liquid cryatal M. Praveen Kumar, J. Kracz, P. Kula, S. Karmakar and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Appl. 19, 044082 (2023)
    109 Critical splay fluctuations and colossal flexoelectric effect above the nonpolar to polar nematic phase transition Abinash Barthakur, Jakub Karcz Przemyslaw Kula and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Materials. 7, 035603 (2023)
    108 Large amplitude oscillatory shear studies on dense PNIPAM microgel colloidal glasses M. V. Saisavadas, Surajit Dhara, R. G. Joshi, and B V R Tata Colloid Polym. Sci. 301, 599 (2023)
    2022
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    107 Nontrivial electrophoresis of silica nano and microrods in a nematic liquid crystal M. Rasi, Archana S, R. Pujala and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 18, 6043 (2022)
    106 Defect-polymorphism controlled electrophoretic propulsion of anisometric microparticles in a nematic liquid crystal Devika V S, D. K. Sahu,R. K. Pujala and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Applied 18, 014030 (2022)
    105 Electrophoresis of metal-dielectric Janus particles with dipolar director symmetry in nematic liquid crystals Dinesh Kumar Sahu and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 18, 1819 (2022)
    104 Chemical and physical aspects of recent bent-shaped liquid crystals exhibiting chiral and achiral mesophases S. Kaur, V. Punjani, N. Yadav, A. Baghla, S. K. Pal, A. Barthakur and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 49, 1078 (2022)
    103 Observation of de Vries-like properties in hockey-stick shaped mesogens S. Kaur, G. Mohiuddin,S. P. Gupta, A, Barthakur, Surajit Dhara and S. K. Pal Chemical Science 13, 2249 (2022)
    2021
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    102 Dynamics of a sheared twist bend nematic liquid crystal M. Praveen Kumar, P. Kula and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 115605 (2021) (Editor's Suggestion)
    101 Topological phase transitions in two-dimensional bent-core liquid crystal models B. Kamala Latha, Surajit Dhara and V. S. S Sastry Phys. Rev. E 104, 064701 (2021)
    100 Electric field driven controllable motility of metal-dielectric Janus Boojum-particles in a thin film of nematic liquid crystal Dinesh Kumar Sahu and Surajit Dhara Phys. Fluids 33, 0187106 (2021)
    99 Interactions of charged microrods in chiral nematic liquid crystals M. Rasi, R. Pujala, P. Sathayanarayana, and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 104, 014706 (2021)
    98 Effect of phase transitions on liquid crystal colloids: A short review K. P. Zuhail, M. Humar and Surajit Dhara Liquid Crystal Reviews 8(1), 44 (2020) [Cover article]
    2020
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    97 Smecticlike rheology and pseudo-layer compression elastic constant of a twist-bend nematic liquid crystal M. Praveen Kumar, P. Kula and Surajit Dhara Physical Review Materials 4, 115601 (2020)
    96 Measuring electric field induced dipole moments of metal-dielectric Janus particles in a nematic liquid crystal Dinesh Kumar Sahu and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Applied. 14, 034004 (2020)
    95 Microrheology to probe smectic clusters in bent-core nematic liquid crystals S. Paladugu, S. Kaur, G. Mohiuddin, R. K. Pujala, S. K. Pal and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 16, 7556 (2020)
    94 Omnidirectional transport and navigation of Janus particles through a nematic liquid crystal film Dinesh Kumar Sahu, Swapnil Kole, Sriram Ramaswamy and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. Res. (Rapid Com.) 2, 032009(R) (2020)
    93 Studies on binary mixtures of nematic liquid crystals made of strongly polar molecules with identical cores and antagonistic orientation of permanent dipoles Dasari Venka Sai, Tae Hoon Yoon and Surajit Dhara J. Mol. Liq. 312, 113410 (2020)
    92 Orientation-dependent interaction of faceted magnetic colloids in a nematic liquid crystal Devika V S, Ravi Kumar Pujala and Surajit Dhara Adv. Opt. Mater 8, 1901585 (2020) Hot Topics: Magnetic Materials
    91 Evaporation driven self-assembly in the mixtures of micro and nanoparticles Ravi Kumar Pujala, Devika V S and Surajit Dhara Bull. Mater. Sci. 43, 173 (2020) [Cover Article]
    90 Chiral bent-shaped molecules exhibiting unusually wide range of blue liquid-crystalline phases and multistimuli-responsive Behavior V. Punjani, G. Mohiuddin, S. Kaur, A. Roy Choudhury P. Sathyanarayana, Surajit Dhara, S. Ghosh, S. Pal Chem. Eur. J. 26, 5859 (2020)
    2019
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    89 Whispering gallery mode lasing in mesomorphic liquid crystal microdroplets Junaid Ahmad Sofi, Abinash Barthakur and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 15, 7832 (2019)
    88 Electrically switchable whispering gallery mode lasing from ferroelectric liquid crystal microdroplets Junaid Ahmad Sofi and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Lett. 114, 091106 (2019)
    87 Colloidal analogues of polymer chains, ribbons and 2D crystals employing orientations and interactions of nano-rods dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal Muhammed Rasi M, Ravi Kumar Pujala and Surajit Dhara Sci. Rep. 9, 4652 (2019)
    86 Re-entrant direct hexagonal phases in a lyotropic system of surfactant induced by an ionic liquid S. Mitra, R. Karri, P. Kumar, A. B. Dey, G. Bhattacharya, G. Roy, Surajit Dhara, S. M. Kamil, S. K. Sinha and S. K. Ghosh Liq. Cryst.,46, 1327 (2019)
    85 Stability of liquid crystal based optical microresonators Junaid Ahmad Sofi and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst., 46, 629 (2019)
    84 Orientation, elastic interaction and magnetic response of asymmetric colloids in a nematic liquid crystal Dinesh Kumar Sahu, T.G. Anjali, M.G. Basavraj, J. Aplinc, S. Copar and Surajit Dhara Sci. Rep. 9, 81 (2019)
    2018
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    83 Effect of SmA short-range order on the activation energies of rotational and translational viscosities of nematic liquid crystals with highly polar molecules M Praveen Kumar, D. Venkata Sai and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 98, 062701 (2018)
    82 Hierarchical self-assembly of colloidal nanoplatelets driven by evaporation Ravi Pujala, Praveen Kumar and Surajit Dhara J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51, 304003 (2018) (Invited Article:Special Issue on driven colloids)
    81 A short review on the rheology of twist grain boundary and blue phase liquid crystals Rasmita Sahoo and Surajit Dhara Fluids 3, 26 (2018)(Invited Article: Special issue on rheology of liquid crystals)
    80 Supramolecular self-assembly of thiol functionalized pentaalkynylbenzene-decorated gold nanoparticles exhibiting room temperature discotic nematic liquid crystal phase Monika Gupta, Subhransu Sekhar Mohapatra, Surajit Dhara, and Santanu Kumar Pal J. Mater. Chem. C 6, 2303 (2018)
    79 N-SmA-SmC phase transitions probed by a pair of elastically bound colloids Muhammed Rasi M, Zuhail K.P, Arun Roy and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 97, 032702 (2018)
    2017
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    78 Electrical and thermal tuning of the quality factor and free spectral range of optical resonance of nematic liquid crystal micro-droplets Junaid Ahmad Sofi, M.A. Mohiddon, N. Dutta and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 98, 022702 (2017)
    77 Room-temperature oligomeric discotic nematic liquid crystals over a wide temperature range: Structure-property relationships M. Gupta, S. P. Gupta, S. S. Mohapatra, Surajit Dhara, and Santanu Kumar Pal Chem. Eur. J 23, 10631 (2017)
    76 A new strategy towards the synthesis of a room-temperature discotic nematic liquid crystal by employing triphenylene and pentaalkynylbenzene units. Monika Gupta, Santosh Prasad Gupta, M. V. Rasna, Surajit Dhara and Santanu Kumar Pal Chem.Commun. 54, 3014 (2017)
    75 Rheological studies on liquid-crystal-colloids prepared by dispersing microparticles with homeotropic surface anchoring. Rasmita Sahoo and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst.44, 1582 (2017)
    74 Propelling and Spinnning of anisotropic micro-sheets in nematic liquid crystals driven by electric field. M. V. Rasna, U, Ramudu, R. Chandrasekhar and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 95, 012710 (2017)
    73 Magnetic-field tuning of Whispering Gallery Mode lasing from ferromagnetic nematic liquid crystal microdroplets. M. Mur, J. Ahmad, I. Kvasic, A. Mertelj, D. Lisjak, V. Niranjan, I. Musevic and Surajit Dhara Optics Express 25,1073 (2017)
    2016
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    72 Experimental studies on the phase diagram and physical properties of mixture of calamitic and discotic nematic liquid crystals D. Venkata Sai, Giorgio Mirri, Igor Musevic and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 43,1884 (2016)
    71 Effect of temperature and electric field on 2D-nematic colloidal crystals stabilised by vortex-like topological defects K. P. Zuhail and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 12, 6812 (2016)
    70 Dynamics of electroorientation of birefringent microsheets in isotropic and nematic liquid crystals M. V. Rasna, K. P. Zuhail, U, Ramudu, R. Chandrasekhar and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 94, 032701 (2016)
    69 Unusual temperature dependence of splay and bend elastic constants of a discotic nematic liquid crystal D. Venkata Sai, G. Mirri, P. Kouwer, R. Sahoo, I. Musevic and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 12, 2960 (2016)
    2011-2015
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    68 Spherical microparticles with Saturn ring defects and their self-assembly across the nematic to smectic-A phase transition K. P. Zuhail, S. Copar, I. Musevic and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 92, 052501 (2015)
    67 Experimental studies on the rheology of cubic blue phases Rasmita Sahoo, O. Chojnowska, R. Dabrowski and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 12, 1324 (2016)
    66 Orientation, interaction and laser assisted self-assembly of organic single crystal micro-sheets in nematic liquid crystal M. V. Rasna, K. P. Zuhail, U. V. Ramudu, R. Chandrasekar, J. Dontabhaktuni and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 11, 7674 (2015)
    65 Temperature dependence of equilibrium separation and lattice parameters in nematic boojum-colloids K. P. Zuhail and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 211901 (2015)
    64 Magnetodielectric and magnetoviscosity response of a ferromagnetic liquid crystal at low magnetic fields Rasmita Sahoo, M. V. Rasna, D. Lisjak, A. Mertelj and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 161905 (2015)
    63 Topological defect transformation and structural transition of two-dimensional colloidal-crystals across the nematic to smectic-A phase transition K. P. Zuhail, P. Sathyanarayana, D. Sec, S. Copar, M. Skarabot, I. Musevic and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E (Rapid Com) 91, 030501 (2015)
    62 Phase transitions, optical, dielectric and viscoelastic properties of colloidal suspensions of BaTiO3nanoparticles and cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals M. V. Rasna, L. Cmok, D. R. Evans, A. Mertelj, and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 42, 1069 (2015)
    61 Detection of phase transitions from the study of Whispering Gallery Mode resonance in liquid crystal droplets T. Arun Kumar, A. Mohiddon, N. Dutta, N. K. Vishwanathan and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 051101 (2015); [Cover Article, 2nd February] Best of the Featured Articles of 2015
    60 Structure-property correlation of bicyclohexane nematic liquid crystals D. Venkata Sai1, K. P. Zuhail, R. Sarkar and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 42, 328 (2015)
    59 Synthesis and characterization of ultra-fine colloidal silica nanoparticles M. Quasim, J. Ananthaiah, Surajit Dhara, P. Paik and D. Das Adv.Sci.Eng.Med., 6, 965 (2014)
    58 Effect of smectic short range order on discontinuous anchoring transition in the nematic phase D. Venkata Sai, T. Arun Kumar, Arun Roy, W. Haase and Surajit Dhara J. Chem. Phys. 141, 044706 (2014)
    57 Discontinuous anchoring transition and photo-thermal switching in composites of liquid crystal and conducting polymer-nanofibres M. V. Rasna, K. P. Zuhail, R. Manda, P. Paik, W. Haase, and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 89, 052503 (2014)
    56 Rheology of twist-grain-boundary-A liquid crystals Rasmita Sahoo, J. Ananthaiah, R. Dabrowski and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 90, 012506 (2014)
    55 Synthesis and characterization of novel ABA-type azobenzene-containing tri-block copolymers from telechelic polystyrene T. Rajasekhar, M. Trinadh, R. Sahoo, Surajit Dhara, A. V. S. Sainath Designed Monomers and Polymers 18, 145 (2014)
    54 Rheology of nematic liquid crystals with highly polar molecules J. Ananthaiah, Rasmita Sahoo, M. V. Rasna and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 89, 022510 (2014)
    53 Birefringence, permittivity, elasticity, and rotational viscosity of ambient temperature, high birefringent nematic liquid crystal mixtures D. Venkata Sai, P. Sathyanarayana, V.S.S. Sastry, J. Herman, P. Kula, R. Dabrowski, and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 41, 591 (2013)
    52 Possible enhancement of physical properties of nematic liquid crystals by doping of conducting polymer nanofibres R. Manda, V. Dasari, P. Sathyanarayana, M. V. Rasna, P. Paik and Surajit Dhara Applied Physics Letters 103, 141910 (2013)
    51 Novel high birefringent isothiocyanates based on quarterphenyl and phenylethynyltolane molecular cores J. Herman, J. Dziaduszek, R. Dabrowski, J. Kedzierski, K. Kowiorski, V. S. Dasari, Surajit Dhara and P. Kula Liq. Cryst. 40, 1174 (2013)
    50 Active and passive viscosities of a bent-core nematic liquid crystal S. Dhara,Y. Balaji, J. Ananthaiah, V. Ashoka, A. Spaldo and R. Dabroski Phys. Rev. E (Rapid Com.) 87, 030501(R) (2013)
    49 Different modulated structures of topological defects stabilized by adaptive targeting nanoparticles Structures G. Cordoyiannis, V. S. R. Jampani, S. Kralj, S. Dhara, V. Tzitzios, G. Basina, G. Nounesis, Z. Kutnja2, C. S. P. Tripathi, P. Losada-Pérez, D. Jesenek, C. Glorieux, I. Muševič, A. Zidanšek, H. Amenitsch and J. Thoen Soft Matter 9, 3956 (2013)
    48 Laser-driven microflow-induced bistable orientation of a nematic liquid crystal in perfluoropolymer treated unrubbed cells V. S. R. Jampani, Miha Skarabot, H. Takezoe, I. Musevic and Surajit Dhara Optics Express 21, 724 (2013)
    47 Antagonistic flexoelectric response in liquid crystal mixtures of bent-core and rodlike molecules P. Sathyanarayana and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 87, 012506 (2013)
    46 Rheological properties of a reentrant nematic liquid crystal J. Ananthaiah, M. Rajeswari, V. S. S. Sastry, R. Dabrowski, and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 86, 011710 (2012)
    45 Effect of confinement on molecular processes in the liquid crystal 8OCB: Application of NMR relaxometry M. Rajeswari, Surajit Dhara K. Venu, V. S. S. Sastry and R. Dabrowski Soft Matter 8, 10008 (2012)
    44 Anchoring Transition in a Nematic Liquid Crystal doped with Chiral Agents Tatipamula A. Kumar, Khoa V. Le, S. Aya, K. Fukuda, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa, J. Watanabe, S. Dhara, and H. Takezoe Phase Transitions 85, 888 (2012)
    43 Multinuclear NMR relaxometry studies in singly fluorinate liquid crystal M.Rajeswari, Trivikram R.Molugua, Surajit Dhara, K. Venu, V.S.S.Sastry and R.Dabrowski Chemical Physics Letters 531, 80 (2012)
    42 Slow molecular processes in a nematic liquid crystal confined to random porous network formed by aerosil particles M.Rajeswari, Surajit Dhara, K. Venu, V.S.S.Sastry and R.Dabrowski Phase Transitions 85, 322 (2012)
    41 Viscoelasticity of ambient-temperature nematic binary mixtures of bent-core and rod-like molecules P. Sathyanarayana, V. S. R. Jampani, Miha Skarabot, I. Musevic, K. V. Le, Hideo Takezoe and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 85, 011702 (2012)
    40 Structure-property correlation of a hockey stick-shaped compound exhibiting N-SmA-SmCa phase transitions P. Sathyanarayana, S. Radhika, B. K. Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 8, 2322 (2012)
    39 Slow dynamics in a liquid crystal:1H and 19F NMR relaxometry M. Rajeswari, Trivikram R. Molugu, Surajit Dhara, K. Venu, V. S. S. Sastry and R. Dabrowski J. Chem. Phys. 135, 244507 (2011)
    38 Splay-bend elasticity and rotational viscosity of liquid crystal mixture of rod-like and bent-core molecules P.Sathyanarayana, B. K. Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Soft Matter 7, 8556 (2011)
    37 Effect of electric field on the rheological and dielectric properties of a liquid crystal exhibiting N-SmA phase transition J. Ananthaiah, M. Rajeswari, V. S. S. Sastry, R. Dabrowski and Surajit Dhara Eur. Phys. J. E 34, 74  (2011)
    36 Effect of electric field on defects in a nematic liquid crystals with variable surface anchoring T. Arun Kumar, V. S. S. Sastry, K. Ishikawa, H. Takezoe, N.V. Madhusudana and Surajit Dhara  Liq. Cryst. 38, 971 (2011)
    35 Alignment ofUnconventional Nematic Liquid Crystals T. Arun Kumar, K. V. Le, J. K. Kim, H. Takezoe and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 38, 917 (2011)
    34 Calorimetric study on the effect of bent-shaped dopant molecules on the critical behaviour at the nematic-smectic-A d phase transition Y. Sasaki, K. Ema, K. V. Le, H. Takezoe, Surajit Dhara and B. K. Sadashiva Phys. Rev. E 83, 061701 (2011)
    33 Effect of electric field on the nematic-isotropic transition: AN entropic sampling study Regina Jose, D. Jayasri, Surajit Dhara, K. P. N. Murthy and V. S. S. Sastry Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 545, 168 (2011)
    32 Slow Molecular Processes in a liquid crystal embedded in aerosil matrix: Nuclear magnetic relaxometric study M. Rajeswari, Surajit Dhara, K. Venu, R. Dabrowski and V. S. S. Sastry Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst.546, 45 (2011)
    31 Rheological Properties of a chiral liquid crystal exhibiting type-II character M. Rajeswari, J. Ananthaiah, R. Dabrowski, V. S. S. Sastry, B. K. Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 547, 39 (2011)
    30 Perfluoropolymer as planar alignment layer for liquid crystals T. Arun Kumar, H. Takezoe and Surajit Dhara Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. (Rapid. Com.) 750, 040203 (2011)
    29 Transition between two orthogonal polar phases in symmetric bent-core liquid crystals L. Guo, K. Gomola, E. Gorecka, D. Pociecha, Surajit Dhara, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Soft Matter 7, 2895 (2011)
    2006-2010
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    28 Splay-Bend elasticity of a liquid crystal with T-Shaped molecules P. Sathyanarayana, M. C. Varia, A. K. Prajapati, B. Kundu, V. S. S. Sastry and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E (Rapid. Com.) 82, 050701 (2010)
    27 Rotational viscosity of a bent-core nematic liquid crystal P. Sathyanarayana, T. Arun Kumar, M. Mathews, Q. Li, V. S. S. Sastry, H. Takezoe and Surajit Dhara Appl. Phys. Exp. 3, 091702 (2010)
    26 Critical behavior at transitions from uniaxial to biaxial phases in a smectic liquid-crystal mixture Y. Sasaki, K. Ema, K. V. Le, H. Takezoe, Surajit Dhara and B.K. Sadashiva Phys. Rev. E 82, 011709 (2010)
    25 Temperature and electric field induced inverse Freedericksz transition in a nematogen with weak surface anchoring T. Arun Kumar, P. Sathyanarayana, V. S. S. Sastry, H. Takezoe, N. V. Madhusudana and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E 82, 011701 (2010)
    24 Heat- and electric-field-driven bistable devices using dye-doped nematic liquid crystals J. K. Kim, K. V. Le, Surajit Dhara, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe J. Appl. Phys. 107, 123108 (2010)
    23 Splay-Bend elasticity of a bent-core nematic liquid crystal P. Sathyanaraya, M. Mathews, Q. Li, V. S. S. Sastry, H. Takezoe and Surajit Dhara Phys. Rev. E (Rapid Com.) 81, 010702 (2010)
    22 Polar switching in the SmAdP A phase composed of asymmetric bent-core molecules L. Guo, Surajit Dhara, B. K. Sadashiva, Y. Shimbo, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Phys. Rev. E 81, 011703 (2010)
    21 Perfluoropolymer surface for shock free homeotropic alignment of smectic liquid crystals S. M. Jeong, Y. Shimbo, F. Araoka, Surajit Dhara, N. Y. Ha, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Adv. Mater.  22, 34 (2010)
    20 Thermotropic Uniaxial Nematic Liquid Crystal with ±1/2 Strength Disclinations: Defect Antidefect production and correlation Surajit Dhara, T. Arun Kumar, Ken Ishikawa and H. Takezoe J. Phys. Condens. Matter 21, 505103 (2009)
    19 Anchoring transitions of transversely polar liquid-crystal molecules on perfluoropolymer surfaces Surajit Dhara, J. K. Kim, S. M. Jeong, R. Kogo, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Phys. Rev. E. (Rapid Com) 79, 060701 (2009)
    18 Bistable device using anchoring transition of nematic liquid crystals J. K. Kim, S. M. Jeong, Surajit Dhara,F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 063505 (2009)
    17 Synthesis and characterization of novel asymmetrical bent-core mesogens exhibiting polar smectic phases K. Gomola, G. Lingfeng, Surajit Dhara, Y. S. E. Gorecka, D. Pociecha, J. Mieczkowski and H. Takezoe J. Mater. Chem. 19, 4240 (2009)
    16 Enhancement of Freedericksz Threshold voltage of nematic liquid crystals in thin cell Surajit Dhara J. Mol. Liq. 147,145 (2009)
    15 Excited state isomerization and effect of viscosity- and temperature-dependent torsional relaxation on TICT fluorescence of trans-2-[4-(dimethylamino) styryl]benzothiazole S. K. Saha, P. Purkayastha, A. B. Das and Surajit Dhara J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 199, 179 (2008)
    14 Alternative twist structures formed by electroconvection in the nematic phase of an achiral bent-core molecule S. Tanaka, Surajit Dhara, B. K. Sadashiva, Y. Shimbo, Y. Takanishi, F. Araoka, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Phys. Rev. E 77, 041708 (2008)
    13 Kerr constant and third-order nonlinear optic susceptibility measurements in a liquid crystal composed of bent-shaped molecules Surajit Dhara, F. A. M. Lee, K. V. Le, G. Lingfen, B. K. Sadashiva, K. Song, K. Ishikawa and H. Takezoe Phys. Rev. E (Rapid Com) 78, 050701 (2008)
    12 Physical Characterization of CCN-47 Surajit Dhara and N. V. Madhusudana Phase Transitions 81, 561 (2008)
    11 Effect of high electric fields on the nematic to isotropic transition in a material exhibiting large negative dielectric anisotropy Surajit Dhara, N. V. Madhusudana Eur. Phys. J. E 122, 139 (2007)
    10 Experimental Investigation on the pretilt angle in a binary liquid crystal composed of highly polar molecules Surajit Dhara, K.V. Lee, Y. Takanishi and H. Takezoe Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 46, 5920 (2007)
    09 Characterization of the nematic phase of a banana liquid crystal K. V. Lee, Surajit Dhara, B.K. Sadashiva, Y. Takanishi and H. Takezoe Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45, L1013 (2006)
    2001-2005
    S. No. Title Authors Journal Details
    08 Influence of director fluctuations on the electric-field phase diagrams of nematic liquid crystals Surajit Dhara and N. V. Madhusudana Europhys. Lett. 67, 411, (2004)
    07 Enhancement of orientational order parameter of nematic liquid crystals in thin cells Surajit Dhara and N. V. Madhusudana Eur. Phys. J. E 13, 401, (2004)
    06 Some Experimental investigations on type-II chiral liquid crystals Surajit Dhara, R. Pratibha and N. V. Madhusudana Ferroelectrics 277, 13 (2002)
    05 Banana-shaped mesogens: Effect of 2-methylresorcinol as the central unit on the mesomorphic properties of five-ring esters S. Shubashree, B. K. Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 29, 789 (2002)
    04 Novel chiral fluoro substituted benzoyloxybenzoates exhibiting an antiferroelectric mesophase S. Shubashree, B. K. Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 381, 21 (2002)
    03 Effect of lateral substituents on the mesophases formed by some achiral banana-shaped molecules B. K. Sadashiva, H. N. Shreenivasa Murthy and Surajit Dhara Liq. Cryst. 28, 483 (2001)
    02 Banana-shaped mesogens: Observation of a direct transition from the antiferroelectric B2 to nematic phase Amaranath Reddy, B. K Sadashiva and Surajit Dhara Chem. Commun. 1972 (2001)
    01 Ionic contribution to the dielectric properties of a nematic liquid crystals in thin cells Surajit Dhara and N. V. Madhusudana J. Appl. Phys. 90, 3483 (2001)

    Projects

    • Development of multiferroic nematic liquid crystals (2023-2026, SERB-SUPRA, Govt. of India)
    • Structure and properties of new twist-bend nematic liquid crystals with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation (2019-2023, SERB, Govt. of India)
    • Tunable liquid crystal optical microresonators (2016-2019, SERB, Govt. of India)
    • Directed self-assembly and colloidal superstructures in liquid crystals stabilised by topological defects (2016-2021, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India)
    • Rheology of nanoparticle dispersed thermotropic liquid crystals. (2012-2015, Council of Industrial and Scientific Research, Govt. of India)
    • Viscoelastic properties of nanoparticle dispersed liquid crystals. (2012-2015, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India)
    • Experimental investigation on the relationship between the molecular structure and the physical properties of banana liquid crystals. (2007-2010, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India)

    Awards/Honors

    Group Members


    Former Members



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    Dr. Arun Kumar Tatipamula (2012)

    Thesis Title: Study of perfluorepolymer as alignment layer for nematic liquid crystals

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    Dr.Sathyanarayana Paladugu (2012)

    Thesis Title: Investigation on the physical properties of unconventional nematic liquid crystals

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    Dr. J. Ananthaiah (2015)

    Thesis Title: Rheological studies on nematic and smectic-A thermotropic liquid crystals

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    Dr. Venkata Sai Dasari (2016)

    Thesis Title: Effect of smectic and columnar short-range orders on the physical properties of nematic liquid crystals

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    Dr. M. V. Rasna (2017)

    Thesis Title: Nano and Micro particles in liquid crystals: Studies on the orientation and electrokinetics

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    Dr. Rasmita Sahoo (2017)

    Thesis Title: Rheological Studies on Liquid Crystals with Structural and Induced Topological Defects

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    K. P. Zuhail (2017)

    Thesis Title: Topological defects transformation and structural transition of two dimensional colloidal crystals across nematic to smectic-A phase transition

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    Junaid Ahmad (2020)

    Thesis Title: Whispering gallery mode optical resonance and lasing in liquid crystal microdroplets

    Muhammed Rasi (2021)

    Thesis Title: Interaction, directed assembly and electrophoretic mobility of silica micro and nanorods in nematic liquid crystals

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    Dinesh Kumar Sahu (2022)

    Thesis Title: Nonlinear electrophoresis of metal-dielectric Janus particles in nematic liquid crystals

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    M Praveen Kumar (2023)

    Thesis Title: Rheology of twist-bend and ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals

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    Devika V S (2025)

    Thesis Title: Topological defect-polymorphism assisted assembly and electrophoretic propulsion of nematic colloids

    Current Members

    Abinash Barthakur
    Archana S
    Asish P V
    Saikat Das
    Anaswara Das
    Bidisha Bag

    News

    • Kaleidscope: Phys. Rev. E (2009) Image
    • Kaleidscope: Phys. Rev. E (2010) Image
    • Kaleidscope: Phys. Rev. E (2010) Image
    • Our group featured in "Soft Matter World News Letter: March (2012)"
    • Cover Article and best of the featured articles of Appl. Phys. Lett. (2015)
    • Research Highlight: SPIE News Room:
    • Kaleidscope: Phys. Rev. E (2018) >Image
    • K. P. Zuhail has won the best poster award at Soft matter Young investigators meet held at Pondicherry 18-20th Dec (2015).
    • Rasmita Sahoo won the best poster award at National Conference on Liquid Crystals held at the Manipal Institute of Technology, 16-18th Dec, 2013
    • Rasmita Sahoo won the best poster award at Frontiers in Physics held at the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, 17-18th Oct, 2014
    • Rasmita Sahoo won the best poster award at Frontiers in Physics held at the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, 28-29th March, 2016
    • M. V. Rasna, won the best poster award at National Conference on Liquid Crystals held at the Manipal Institute of Technology, 21-23th Dec, 2015
    • D. Venkata Saiwon the best poster award at Frontiers in Physics held at the School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, 28-29th March, 2016
    • Junaid Ahmed won the best poster award at DAE- BRNS National Laser Symposium held at RRCAT, Indore 3-6th Dec, 2018
    • Praveen Kumar won the best poster award at 25th National Conference on Liquid Crystals held at University of Allahabad, Allahabad 19-21st Dec, 2018
    • University of Hyderabad designs low cost indigenous rubbing machine News
    • Low-cost rubbing machine for LCDs developed in University of Hyderabad News
    • Dinesh Kumar Sahu won the best poster award at ComFlu2019, IISER Bhopal, 05-07 Dec, 2019
    • Muhammad Rasi won the best poster award at ComFlu2019, IISER Bhopal, 05-07 Dec, 2019
    • V. S. Devika won the best poster award at International Conference on Liquid Crystals, Liquid Crystalline Polymers and Nanosystems (ICLCPN 2019), 13-15 December 2019 at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

    Outreach

    • (35) One Day Discussion Meeting on Spectroscopy, Photonics & Dynamics (SPD-2020) on 7 March 2020, IISER-Kolkata. Title: Omnidirectional transport and navigation of Janus particles through a nematic liquid crystal film.
    • (34) Colloquium at Ashoka University, New Delhi on 3rd March Title: Colloids in complex and dynamic environments.
    • (33)Colloquium at IISER-Pune, 20th Jan, 2020. Title: Colloids in complex and dynamic environments.
    • (32) ComFlu-2019, 5th to 7th December, IISER-Bhopal. Title: Omnidirectional transport and navigation of Janus particles through a nematic liquid crystal film.
    • (31)Symposium at Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bangalore 15th Oct (2019) Title: Active colloids in liquid crystals.
    • (30)Contemporary Trends in Optics (CoOpt 2019) 20-23rd May at IISER-Kolkata. Title: Liquid Crystal Colloids and Droplets: Topology and Photonics
    • (29)Theme Meeting on Optical Tweezers and Ultra Short Optical Pulses organized by Indian Physics Association: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018. 12th Nov, 2018, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad. Title: Manipulation of topological defects by laser tweezers.
    • (28) Frontiers of Science by Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) at Pragati Resort 10-12th December, 2018. Organized by IIT Hyderabad, Title: Liquid crystal colloids, topology and photonics
    • (27) Invited Talk: Photonics 2018, IIT Delhi, 12-15th December,2018 Title: Liquid crystal based tunable optical microresonators and microlasers
    • (26) Thematic Workshop on Nematic, IIT Delhi, Delhi 17-18th January, 2018 Title: Topological defects and directed self-assembly of liquid crystal colloids
    • (25) Invited talk: National Laser Symposium, BARC, Mumbai 20-23rd December, 2018 Title: Liquid crystal based tunable optical microresonators and microlasers
    • (24) Session Chair: ComFlu2017, IIT Madras, Chennai 18-20th December 2018
    • (23) Invited talk: Marie Curie Sesquicentennial Conference-2017 (MCSC-2017) November 05-07, 2017 at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Title: Topological defect stabilised colloidal crystals and confined microstructures of liquid crystals
    • (22) Invited talk: TIFRH-UH Joint Discussion Meet in Experimental Physics, at Tata Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS-TIFR center), 4 October, 2017 Title: Self-assembly of liquid crystal colloids via elasticity and topological defects
    • (21) Infosys Condensed Matter Seminar at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, 14th August, 2017 Title: Self-assembly of liquid crystal colloids via elasticity and topological defects
    • (20) Special Seminar at School of Engineering Sciences, Chonbuk National University, 19th June, 2017 Title: Transformation of topological defects, directed self-assembly and electro-kinetics of liquid crystals colloids
    • (19) Special Seminar at Institute of basic Science, Center for Soft and Living Matter, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, republic of South Korea, 5th May, 2017 Title: Transformation of topological defects, directed self-assembly and electrokinetics of liquid crystal colloids
    • (18) Invited talk: DAE Solid State Symposium, KIIT, Bhubneswar 26th-30th December, 2016 Title: Microparticles in Liquid Crystals: Topological Defects and Directed Self-Assembly
    • (17) Invited talk: National Liquid Crystal Conference, Dhanbad 6-9th December, 2016 Title: Electric field driven reorientation, propelling and spinning of anisotropic microparticles in nematic liquid crystals
    • (16) Invited talk: Growing Length Scale Phenomena in Condensed Matter Physics, to be held in Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India, from 8 to 10 October, 2015.) Title: Directed self-assembly and structural transition of topological colloids
    • (15) Invited talk: New Colloids at Raman Research Institute, 19th to 21st July, 2015 Title: Topological defect mediated self-assembly and structural transition of liquid crystal colloids
    • (14) Invited talk: Young Investigator Meet: Soft Matter, 18-20th December 2014 at Pondicherry organized by IIT Chennai, IIT Mumbai, IISER Kolkata and IMSc Chennai Title: Topological defect transformation and structural transition in 2D colloidal crystals across the nematic to smectic-A liquid crystal phase transition
    • (13) Invited talk: International conference on advanced materials and applications (ICAMA-2014), 24-26th March, 2014, Centre for Materials Science, University of Allahabad Title: Surface induced orientational transition in nematic liquid crystals and possible applications
    • (12) Colloquium at IIT, Kanpur,1st March, 2013 Title: Temperature driven discontinuous surface anchoring transition in liquid crystals
    • (11) Invited talk: Conference on Condensed Matter and Biological Systems (CCMB2013)” from 11-14 January, 2013, in the Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University Title: Rheological Studies on the Nematic to Smectic-A Phase Transition under Shear Flow and Electric Field
    • (10) Invited talk: National Conference on Condensed Matter Physics-2012, 24-25th Feb, Department of Physics, BITS Pilani in collaboration with CSIR-CEERI, Pilani Title: Bistable Memory Device Using Thermal Hysteresis of Orientational Transition in Nematic Liquid Crystal
    • (9) Invited talk: First national seminar on recent trends in condensed matter physics including Laser applications, 22-23 March, 2012, University of Burdwan Title: Bistable memory device using thermal hysteresis of orientational transition in nematic liquid crystal
    • (8) Invited talk: Soft and Biological Matter" at the TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad on November 28, 2012. Title: Temperature driven discontinuous surface anchoring transition in liquid crystals
    • (7) Invited talk: Soft Matter Chemistry Workshop, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, 9th-11th November (2011). Title: Viscoelasticity of unconventional nematic liquid crystals.
    • (6) Colloquium: Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia,19th April, (2011). Title: Rheological properties of some unconventional and conventional liquid crystals.
    • (5) Invited talk: International Liquid Crystal Conference, Krakow, Poland, 11th -16th July (2010). Title: Temperature induced anchoring transition and electric field induced inverse Freedericksz transition in a nematogen with weak surface anchoring.
    • (4) Colloquium: Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, USA. 28th Jan-3rd Feb, (2010). Title: Perfluoropolymer as alignment layer for liquid crystals.
    • (3) Invited talk: India Singapore Joint Physics Symposium, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 19th – 21st Feb. (2010). Title: Perfluoropolymer as alignment layer for liquid crystals.
    • (2) Invited talk: Photonic West: Emerging LCD, San Francisco, USA, 23rd Jan- 27th Jan. (2010). Title: Bistable device using anchoring transition of nematic liquid crystals on perfluoropolymer surface.
    • (1) Invited talk: Conference on Mesogenic and Ferroic Materials, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India. Title: Discontinuous and continuous anchoring transitions in liquid crystals and possible application for bistable devices.

    Mailing Address

    Dr. Surajit Dhara
    Professor
    School of Physics
    University of Hyderabad
    Prof. C. R. Rao road
    Hyderabad-500 046

    Email

    surajit@uohyd.ac.in

    Phone

    (040) 2313 4331