By mixing different compounds, a device for practically any temperature range can be built. More important and practical applications have been developed in such diverse areas as medicine and electronics. This is useful because often physical problems, such as tumors, have a different temperature than the surrounding tissue. Liquid crystal temperature sensors can also be used to find bad connections on a circuit board by detecting the characteristic higher temperature. In this technology, a liquid crystal cell is placed between two layers of photoconductor.
Light is applied to the photoconductor, which increases the material's conductivity.
This causes an electric field to develop in the liquid crystal corresponding to the intensity of the light. The electric pattern can be transmitted by an electrode, which enables the image to be recorded. This technology is still being developed and is one of the most promising areas of liquid crystal research. Other Liquid Crystal Applications Liquid crystals have a multitude of other uses. They are used for nondestructive mechanical testing of materials under stress.