Polarized light propagation in polymer dispersed liquid crystal

Abstract

A numerical model founded on a Monte Carlo protocol is developed to describe the propagation of polarized light a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layer, including the effects of droplet size, shape and LC-polymer ratio. A decrease in droplet size (g) leads to more depolarization of transmitted light. That is, a degree of polarization (DOP) of 10% is seen for isotropic droplets at an LC concentration h/ds = 4, where h is the sample thickness and ds is the mean-free-path. Moreover, smaller droplets endow the light a preference to shift from a horizontal to vertical polarization states. The LC concentration decreases the DOP to as low as 75% at h/ds = 8. Spherical droplets depolarize light more compared to both oblate and prolate spheroids. Despite same equatorial to polar axis ratios, the former exhibits higher transmitted intensity than the latter.