Although the basic mechanism of appearance of mesophases such as plastic and liquid crystals on the course of melting of the perfect crystal was established a long ago, in reality there are many exotic phenomena and mesophases beyond the basic understanding.

To fill the gap between simple solids consisting of rigid particles and polymer-melts described as an ensemble consisting of flexible strings, crystals of flexible molecules are studied in detail while paying a special attention to the intramolecular degrees of freedom.

In our laboratory, physical properties and formation mechanisms of aggregated structures of various molecular assembly are being investigated over a wide range between crystal and liquid.

We are especially focusing on the thermodynamics and the statistical physics of these materials.

Recent research topics are listed below.

Aggregation Mechanism and Higher-Order Structures in Soft Matter

Molecular Dynamics and Phase Transition

Physical Properties of Functional Ceramics

Development of Calorimetric Techniques & Theoretical Analysis of Thermal Analysis

Equipments in our laboratory