Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.275, 99-106, 1996
Light-Scattering Properties of Polymer-Dispersed Liquid-Crystals
The Stein-Rhodes Model (SR model) which explains light scattering by anisotropic spheres is applied to the light scattering phenomenon in Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals (PDLC). Comparison of H-v light scattering capability obtained by both the experiment and the theoretical model reveals that, especially in a high temperature region, the experiment provides stronger light scattering intensities than the theoretical model. Observation of PDLC under a polarized microscope shows that the region in which a liquid crystal is oriented expands with the increase of temperature. We assume from these results that the temperature dependence of the birefringence of a liquid crystal droplet is smaller than that of a bulk liquid crystal, which is mainly caused by the difference of liquid crystal orientation. For applying the SR model to PDLC, we must take into account the temperature dependence of liquid crystal orientation in the droplets.