Laser Propagation in Biaxial Liquid Crystal Polymers
Abstract
We examine the propagation of a laser beam through a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) layer using
the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Anchoring conditions on supporting
glass plates induce an orientational structure in the LCP between the plates. The orientation
can deflect energy away from the direction of propagation of the incident beam when
the optical axis or major director of a uniaxial medium is neither parallel nor orthogonal
to the incident beam. The maximum energy deflection occurs when the angle between the
incident beam and the major director of the orientation is 45 degrees, but for spatially uniform
orientations, polarization orthogonal to the plane containing the major director and
the propagation direction is unaffected. We investigate how to overcome this by twisting the
anchoring alignment on the plates with respect to each other to generate a helical structure
in the orientation across the gap to deflect all polarizations. We also examine the difference
between the commonly used Leslie-Ericksen theory for the LCP, which assumes a uniaxial
orientation, and the more general Doi-Marrucci-Greco orientation tensor model, which allows
for both biaxial structures and oblate defect phases.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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