Light transmission of liquid crystal domains formed by polycarbonate surface

Abstract

We investigate the optical transmission of a monochromatic laser beam passing through an individual domain of a nematic liquid crystal formed by the polycarbonate surface. The domain has the radial orientation structure with a disclination line on the polymer surface, which gradually transforms to “pseudoplanar” alignment at the coherence distance ξ from the surface. The dependence of the optical transmittance on an electric field applied to the domain are different at various light polarization directions relative to the disclination lines and, in the absence of an analyzer, are accompanied by interference oscillations. To explain the results obtained, a domain is considered to be a gradient lens with the refractive index variable in the plane perpendicular to the laser beam and the resulting deflecting effect that was collected at the beam path through the liquid crystal layer.