Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.290, 21-29, 1996
Frequency-Dependence of Light Transmittance in a Pdlc
Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) is a dispersion of liquid crystal microdroplets in a polymeric binder. Droplets are randomly oriented anisotropic spheres and, if their size is close to visible light wavelength, produce a strong light scattering so that the sample is translucent. Light scattering, due to the refractive index mismatch between liquid crystal droplets and surrounding polymer, can be controlled by changing the effective refractive index of the droplets : this can be easily obtained applying an external, low frequency, electric field. In recent papers we have presented detailed experimental and theoretical studies of the behavior of a PDLC sample when a light beam impinges on it. Here we study the dependence of the PDLC light transmittance on the frequency of the applied external electric field. To this aim we use a mathematical model assuming the liquid crystal dielectric permittivities epsilon(parallel to) and epsilon(perpendicular to) to be the most important parameters for the applied field frequency dependence of light transmittance. Theoretical results show a sudden decrease of the transmitted intensity increasing the frequency of the applied voltage. We present also preliminary experimental results confirming this behavior.