title: Absorption and scattering measurements of nematic liquid crystals.
abstract: Absorption and scattering losses of visible radiation in nematic liquid crystals (LCs) were measured by an improved transmission technique. The absorption loss of the E-7 LC mixture was found to be ~1 order of magnitude larger than the scattering in the isotropic state. On the contrary, light scattering surpasses absorption by ~2 orders in the nematic state. Wavelength-dependent absorption and scattering losses of two LCs, E-7 and MBBA, were investigated at some laser wavelengths. Results indicate that the absorption tail of LCs decreases with wavelength as lambda(-2) and scattering as lambda(-4) as expected by theory.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lim