Enhancement of birefringence of liquid crystals with dispersion of poly (<i>n</i>-butyl methacrylate) (PBMA)

Abstract

In this work, we have reported the temperature dependence of birefringence for pure liquid crystals (LCs) and liquid crystal-polymer composite (LC-PC) systems. The enhancement of the electro-optical performances is higher in LC with poly (n-butyl methacrylate) polymer. The temperature dependence of the birefringence (Δn) were determined from the transmitted intensity. Dielectric study of pure LC system and LC-PC system has also been presented as a function of frequency. The observed results may be attributed to the occurrence of polymeric domains (chains) formed in LCs. The complete study reveals that the use of polymeric materials in nematic LCs is effective to improve the response in phase shifters devices.