Light extinction in a dispersion of small nematic droplets

Abstract

A study is made of the light-transmission properties of materials in which submicrometer-sized nematic droplets are dispersed in a solid polymeric matrix. Theoretical evaluations of the differential and total cross sections for droplets with different nematic configurations are performed in the Rayleigh–Gans approximation. The corresponding attenuation coefficients are calculated in a single-scattering approximation in which the effect of interdroplet interference is taken into account. The spatial distribution of the droplets is introduced by means of a pair-correlation function. Theoretical calculations are in excellent agreement with experimental data obtained from thin films of materials consisting of cyanobiphenyl droplets dispersed in an epoxy resin.