Determination of the direction of the “easy” axis at a twisted nematic liquid crystal-wall using half-leaky guided modes

Theoretical analysis and numerical modeling indicate that, under high fields, the director of a thin region of liquid crystal close to the wall of a twisted nematic cell returns to the “easy” axis on the interface. Polarization conversion reflectivity signals are recorded for half-leaky guided modes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied physics Vol. 88; no. 8; pp. 4553 - 4557
Main Authors Yang, F. Z., Cheng, H. F., Gao, H. J., Sambles, J. R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 15.10.2000
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Summary:Theoretical analysis and numerical modeling indicate that, under high fields, the director of a thin region of liquid crystal close to the wall of a twisted nematic cell returns to the “easy” axis on the interface. Polarization conversion reflectivity signals are recorded for half-leaky guided modes from a twisted nematic cell subject to high ac fields. By fitting model theory to reflectivities recorded for a particular region of incidence angles, the director twist at the cell walls is deduced. In the high-field limit, this then gives the original director alignment axis, the easy axis, at the wall of a twisted nematic cell.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.1311812