Optical Transmission of the Nematic Domain Structure on the Polymer Surface in a Magnetic Field

Abstract
The propagation of a laser beam through a layer of a hybrid ordered nematic on a polycarbonate film is studied. The nematic has a surface disclination line consisting of domains with a radial configuration of the nematic director. The orientational structure in the domain volume can be transformed into a planar uniaxial structure defined by a disclination line or into a homeotropic one under the influence of a magnetic field. The dependence of the light intensity transmitted through the layer on the magnetic field applied perpendicular to the polymer surface is obtained. Optical transmission was accompanied by interference minima and maxima. Light interference model based on birefringence which takes into account scattering by the orientation-structural inhomogeneities of the domain ensemble is presented. Considering the analysis of the liquid crystal free energy and the birefringence effects, an analytical expression is derived. It establishes the relationship between the light intensity and the magnetic field strength, which coincides with the experiment.

Keywords: nematic liquid crystal, polycarbonate, domain structure, light interference, light scattering, magnetic field