title: Utilizing critical angles in sensing partially ordered liquid crystal profile.
abstract: This paper investigates a new approach for tracking nematic uniaxial liquid crystal (LC) profile in partially ordered LC based sensors. This approach utilizes measuring critical angles for total internal reflection (TIR) at the interface of optically isotropic and partially ordered LC film. The proposed optical transduction requires measuring of the ordinary critical angle and two extraordinary critical angles in orthogonal directions to report the LC degree of ordering and the director axis orientation.
authors.affiliation: University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 73034, USA. aabuabed@uco.edu
authors.forename: Alaeddin S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Abu-Abed
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Lindquist
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016880:Anisotropy; D001718:Birefringence; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*