Diffraction from a liquid crystal phase grating.
The diffraction of light by a sinusoidal perturbation of the optic axis in a nematic liquid crystal is discussed. This corresponds to experiments at the electrohydrodynamic instability thresholds. An interesting qualitative feature appears: The diffraction pattern exhibits a contribution at half of the expected spatial frequency, corresponding to nonorthogonal traversals of the thick phase grating.
Kashnow
R A
RA
Bigelow
J E
JE