Teaching staff
CESAR LUIS FOLCIA BASA
- Knowledge area
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Department
- Centre
- Faculty of Science and Technology
- Electronic mail
- cesar.folcia@ehu.eus
My research work is oriented towards the area of physics of liquid crystals, concerning, more specifically, optical (linear and nonlinear) and structural properties of these materials. In reference to the optical properties, I performed the assembly of an experimental line for the study of second harmonic generation (SHG) in mesogenic materials. The SHG technique is used to determine the efficiency of the second harmonic light conversion and its relationship with the molecular structure. Since 2005, I use X-ray diffraction to obtain structural information, not only with the equipment available in our laboratory but also using large facilities (synchrotron radiation). An important contribution is the analysis of structures using electronic density maps (Fourier maps). These maps represent selected sections of the bulk charge density as well as its projection along a given direction. Since we published the method in 2006, it has been used by different groups for the structural study of liquid crystalline phases. Since 2014, I am working in liquid crystal lasers. These are photonic materials constituted by chiral nematic (cholesteric) liquid crystals. The helical structure is here the resonator in which the light generated by the desexitation of dye molecules is amplified.
I have supervised four PhD theses. One of them was awarded with the Glenn Brown International Prize for the best thesis in liquid crystal physics granted biennially by the International Liquid Crystal Society