Influence of Design Parameters of Liquid Crystal Cell on the Optical Threshold Voltage Value of Electro-Optical Effect

Abstract

The influence of liquid-crystal (LC) cell design parameters on the voltage of the optical threshold of the interference effect of polarized beams controlled by an electric field has been studied by computer simulation. It is shown that under strict boundary conditions (both symmetrical and antisymmetrical), the voltage value of the optical threshold decreases rapidly depending on the cell thickness in an exponential manner and reaches a certain constant value. Under non-strict boundary conditions (both symmetrical and antisymmetrical), the voltage dependence of the optical threshold on the LC layer thickness follows a hyperbolic pattern. At the same time, under strict symmetric boundary conditions, the voltage magnitude of the optical threshold effect decreases exponentially with an increase in the pretilt angle of LC molecules on the orienting surfaces. If the boundary conditions are rigid and antisymmetric, an increase in the pretilt angle on the orienting surfaces results in a linear decrease of the optical threshold voltage of the effect. The voltage magnitude of the optical threshold effect increases linearly with an increase in the twist angle of the LC structure in the cell, for both symmetric and antisymmetric boundary conditions. A decrease in the anchoring energy of LC molecules on a substrate leads to a decrease in the voltage of the optical threshold of the effect, and this regularity has an exponential character depending on the reciprocal value of the anchoring energy of LC molecules on orienting substrates.