Degree and state of polarization control using Brewster’s law in a nematic liquid crystal

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the polarization attributes of reflected light from the surface of a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell, having light incident at Brewster’s angle. We observe that the degree of polarization (DOP) of reflected light can be controlled by applying suitable voltage across the NLC cell when the incident light at Brewster’s angle is unpolarized. For incident polarized light, with application of suitable voltage across the NLC cell, the state of polarization (SOP) of the reflected light can also be controlled. The experimentally obtained tunability in DOP and SOP of the reflected light fields is found in reasonably well agreement with theory. This effect, utilizing the well known Brewster’s law, can be exploited for designing light sources and optical devices based on NLCs having voltage controllable tunable polarization features.