Crystals force sensitivity

AH distortions of the nematic phase may be decomposed into three basic curvatures of the director, as depicted in Figure 6. Liquid crystals are unusual fluids in that such elastic curvatures may be sustained. Molecules of a tme Hquid would immediately reorient to flow out of an imposed mechanical shear. The force constants characterizing these distortions are very weak, making the material exceedingly sensitive and easy to perturb. 

Piezoelecttic impulse ink-jet printers ate especially sensitive to bubbles in the ink. A bubble in the firing chamber absorbs some of the comptessional force from the flexing of the chamber wall and reduces drop volume and drop velocity, thereby affecting print quaHty. Because of the limited range of motion of the crystal, bubbles ate not readily ejected, and the loss of print quaHty owing to their presence is persistent. 

The amorphous phase is not usually a desirable state for the API because the formation process is more random and difficult to control than a crystallization. A second dispersed liquid phase is usually formed just prior to freezing and may coalesce or disperse under the influence of hydrodynamic forces in the crystallizer, making the process sensitive to micro-mixing effects on scale up. Amorphous solids also have significantly lower thermodynamic stability than related crystalline material and may subsequently crystallize during formulation and storage. Because of the non-uniformity of the amorphous solid it can more easily incorporate molecules other than the API, making purification less effective. 

The modern availability of sensitive experimental techniques using synchrotron radiation and atomic force microscopy, and fast computers for molecular modeling, has spurred recent intense interest in following the mechanism of polymer crystallization. In spite of the heroic efforts by the... 

---