An apparatus for measuring a material's photomechanical response
arXiv:1806.09699 · doi:10.1119/1.5050927
Abstract
Please find the final and published version of the manuscript using this citation: E. Bernhardt, et. al, "An apparatus for measuring a material's photomechanical response", American Journal of Physics, 86, 14 (2018) This paper describes a simple and inexpensive apparatus for measuring the light-induced shape change of a material, which can be implemented in a high school or undergraduate laboratory. The key components are a laser pointer to actuate the material, a force sensor from an inexpensive jeweler's balance to measure the response, an Arduino for data acquisition and a means for mechanically mounting the components. The apparatus described here was used by high school students and teachers in a summer program to characterize liquid crystal elastomers. The theory of the photomechanical response is used to interpret the data, from which the material parameters are determined.
arXiv comment12 pages, 12 figures
References in corpus (4)
- Cascading of Liquid Crystal Elastomer Photomechanical Optical Devices
- An optically activated cantilever using photomechanical effects in dye-doped polymer fibers
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- Phase-Sensitive Detection in the undergraduate lab using a low-cost microcontroller